Chapter 219

“Hey, sis. Honestly, I don’t hate you that much. Even though you caused an unforgivable incident this time, I still want to help you a little.”

“…I… I…”

“Sorry, but I’m not interested in your opinion.”

Christian placed his hand on Yulian’s forehead.

“This might hurt a bit. It’s a method that digs deep into your soul.”

A brilliant flash ignited.

The curse was unleashed.

‘Cruel Nightmare.’

A curse that forces one to relive the most horrific memory of their life.

For Yulian, it was naturally the memory of her loved ones being slaughtered.

“…H-hey… don’t…”

Yulian stammered.

Though she had endured the pain of her soul being torn apart, witnessing the death of those dear to her again was unbearable.

But Christian didn’t stop.

Instead, he added an even more vicious curse.

‘Pendulum of Nightmares.’

Like a pendulum swinging endlessly, it forces the same nightmare to repeat over and over.

In other words, Christian cursed Yulian to endlessly relive the nightmare of her loved ones dying.

“No… no…”

Yulian’s consciousness sank deeper into the nightmare, and as she did, a black moon symbol appeared on Christian’s temple.

It was the mark of a half-demon.

*    *    *

Yulian—or rather, ‘she’—had lived in a peaceful village.

Small, but filled with quiet tranquility.

Then hell came crashing down.

The ‘demon’ arrived on an unusually clear day.

The demon, Marquis Langham, under the pretense of researching spirit magic, conducted cruel human experiments on her and the entire village.

No, looking back now, it wasn’t even human experimentation.

It was a horrific atrocity meant only to bring more excruciating death.

As she awaited death in a pitiful state, a presence approached.

[Poor child. Don’t you want revenge?]

It was the Azure Demon King.

Once a glorious Fairy King.

She took the Demon King’s hand.

The condition he offered in exchange for his help was simple.

[Offer your soul and dye the dark magic in blood.]

She accepted.

If it meant revenge, she was willing to become a demon.

‘But I was just used.’

Only after everything had started did she realize.

From beginning to end, she had been nothing but a pawn played by the Azure Demon King and Marquis Langham.

‘It was all their plan from the start.’

The horrific massacre by Marquis Langham.

The outstretched hand of the Azure Demon King.

All part of a conspiracy to use her.

Her desire for revenge flared up, but soon her heart turned completely black.

‘I just want to let it go.’

She was never the type suited for revenge.

It was in the nature of her elven kind.

A people who loved peace and the forest.

She had only been holding on, recalling her kin dying painfully.

But now, knowing the truth—that she was nothing but a puppet in their scheme—her spirit broke completely.

‘Revenge is impossible for me.’

Even Marquis Langham was a formidable foe beyond her reach.

And the Azure Demon King?

‘I just want to escape now.’

Yulian squeezed her eyes shut.

Then, a voice echoed deep in her heart.

—You haven’t accomplished anything yet. And you’re already ready to give up?

It was Christian’s voice.

Yulian bit her lip hard.

When she opened her eyes again, the same nightmare played out.

Her kin mercilessly slaughtered.

The Azure Demon King mockingly reaching out to her in sorrow.

The scene repeated endlessly.

“Stop… stop…!!”

Yulian shouted, covering her eyes.

“Please, just stop!!”

Tears streamed down.

Then, another voice spoke.

It was her own heart speaking.

—You’re just trying to run away.

In the hell of endless nightmares, she finally understood her true feelings.

She didn’t want to give up.

She wanted those terrible demons who had thrown her into hell to pay.

But it was impossible.

More than anything, she had already given her soul to a demon. Her soul was now condemned to Gehenna, to suffer eternal torment.

‘There’s no way.’

Just as despair clouded her face, an unexpected voice rang out.

“Shall I help you?”

“!!”

It was Christian!

He appeared in the nightmare world.

“…Help me?”

“I’ll free you from the demon’s grasp.”

“That’s nonsense… impossible.”

Yulian shook her head.

A contract made with a demon was absolute.

But Christian had an astonishing story.

“No, not necessarily. There’s a loophole worth exploiting.”

“A loophole?”

“Yeah, there’s a way. Normally… it’s impossible, but as you know, I’m not exactly an ordinary being.”

Yulian was dumbfounded.

Of course, she knew Christian was a genius.

But how could he possibly cancel a contract made with a demon?

Then he explained.

“If this were a normal contract, it’d be tough. But luckily, your contract has a crack.”

Christian snapped his fingers.

“The contract you made with the demon is a double contract, brokered by the Azure Demon King.”

“!!”

That was it.

Originally, Yulian wasn’t qualified to make a contract with a Third-Tier demon.

It was only possible because the Azure Demon King acted as an intermediary.

Here’s the key point.

‘The primary party in the contract with Yulian isn’t the Third-Tier demon, but the Azure Demon King.’

Yulian, the Azure Demon King, and the Third-Tier demon were sequentially bound by contract.

What did that mean?

‘If we cancel the contract with the Azure Demon King, all contracts become void.’

The Third-Tier demon was an untouchable, supreme being, but the Azure Demon King was different.

Even a nine-star transcendent was still a mortal.

He could be dealt with.

‘If I claim ownership of Yulian’s soul, I can cancel the contract with the Azure Demon King. Using Gehenna’s loophole, it’s definitely possible.’

Having sorted his thoughts, Christian looked Yulian straight in the eyes.

“I, Christian, ask you this: Will you give me your soul so I can grant your revenge?”

“!!”

Yulian swallowed hard.

“You’ll… grant my revenge?”

“Yes.”

Christian nodded.

“I will bring death to all those involved in your clan’s tragedy. Marquis Langham, and even the Azure Demon King.”

Yulian’s eyes trembled.

“That can’t be possible…”

“Why do you think it’s impossible?”

Christian smirked.

“You’ve seen the miracles I’ve performed so far, haven’t you? Marquis Langham is a given, and within a year, I’ll be cutting down the Azure Demon King.”

In truth, it wasn’t just for Yulian.

He planned to conquer the Southern Magic Kingdom within a year anyway.

In the process, he would subdue or eliminate the Azure Demon King and anyone else in his way.

“Now, you have one chance. Choose. Will you give me your soul?”

Yulian swallowed again.

“…I will… give you my soul.”

“Good. What is your true name?”

Not ‘Yulian,’ but the original true name of her soul.

She hesitated, then said,

“…Rear.”

“Right, Rear. Offer your blood to me.”

Yulian—no, Rear—cut her wrist.

Though this space was not physical but mental, it didn’t matter.

What mattered was the ritual of submission through heartfelt surrender.

A crackling sound.

As the contract proceeded, something astonishing happened.

A twisted tree symbol appeared on the back of Yulian’s neck, then began to fade.

In its place, the black moon symbol started to form.

The Azure Demon King’s mark vanished, replaced by Christian’s.

Astonishingly, Christian was intercepting the soul contract made with the Azure Demon King.

Suddenly, a low voice echoed.

[Stop. I will no longer tolerate this.]

It was the Azure Demon King’s voice!

Using the authority of a contractor, he seemed to have crossed the vast distance to interfere with Yulian’s mind.

[That soul belongs to me and the Great One.]

Christian let out a bitter laugh.

“Shut up.”

[…What?]

“I’m saying don’t spout nonsense when your contract was a lie from the start.”

Christian didn’t stop there.

“For a Demon King to stoop to such a pathetic scam contract, you should be ashamed. No wonder you were kicked out of the Fairy King’s throne.”

The insulting words made the Azure Demon King furious; the air trembled violently.

But Christian only sneered with contempt.

He had no intention of showing respect to such a demon.

‘What are you going to do if you don’t like it?’

Even for a Demon King, harming Christian in this distant mental realm was impossible.

But the Azure Demon King’s voice sneered again.

[Foolish one. You don’t realize what you’ve done, do you?]

“……”

[To seize a soul contract made by another without cause is to violate causality.]

At those words, an unknown energy began to rise around Christian.

It wasn’t the usual magical energy.

It was more transparent.

The fundamental force of the world.

‘Causality!’

Just as the Azure Demon King said, the laws of causality were being enforced.

But it was baffling.

Normally, simply intercepting a soul contract wouldn’t trigger such a visible causality backlash.

Even though it was a violation of causality, it was such a minor thing when viewed from the perspective of the entire world.

Usually, even if there are restrictions, they remain trivial and meaningless.

“The Blue Stream Demon Lord has tampered with causality.”

The Blue Stream Demon Lord was a transcendent being of the ninth rank.

He could interfere with the very foundation of the world—causality itself.

That meant he could manipulate causality by will, turning it into a weapon.

Here’s how it worked.

If there’s a restriction that brings about general misfortune over a period of time, he would concentrate all that misfortune into a single, extreme point.

For example, a sudden, fatal stroke of bad luck affecting one’s life.

The total amount of misfortune remains the same, but the consequences become far more devastating.

Chris’s case was similar.

The restriction he was supposed to bear after intercepting the contract of another’s soul was a mere light wound to the soul.

Something mild enough to recover from after some time.

But the Blue Stream Demon Lord sharpened that restriction to a razor’s edge by meddling with causality.

Like a spearhead piercing straight through the soul, focused on a single point.

A miracle only a ninth-rank transcendent could pull off.

“I will pierce through the core of your soul.”

A grim declaration.

The sharply honed spear of causality surged toward Chris’s soul.

If it struck, Chris would suffer a fatal blow to his very essence.

But then, something inexplicable happened.

Swish!

The spear of causality stopped short, unable to reach Chris!

[!!]

Chris could sense the Blue Stream Demon Lord’s surprise.

“I think you’re mistaken about something. I have never broken causality.”

Chris lifted the corner of his mouth in a faint smile.

“Your Highness seems to have forgotten the laws of Gehenna.”