Chapter 229

“W-wait, I wasn’t overreacting or anything! I just wanted to make sure you were alive, that’s all! I mean… we’re precious friends, right?”

Marisa quickly averted her gaze, letting out a huge sigh of relief.

But… why did he seem even more handsome than before? Maybe it was because he hadn’t seen sunlight for two weeks?

His expression had grown even more arrogant—but not in an unpleasant way. It was a fierce kind of charm, almost hypnotic.

Marisa found herself momentarily dazed, then shook her head sharply.

“A-anyway, you’re really okay, right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Then we have to hurry.”

“Why?”

Marisa’s voice rose in panic.

“You’re late for the duel! If this keeps up, that idiot Alos is going to die!!”

---

At that moment, in the arena of the Extreme Poison Maga.

A crowd of poison-wielding minions had gathered.

“What’s going on? Why hasn’t the duel started yet?”

“I heard Archduke Christian asked them to wait a bit. They’re not ready yet.”

For the past two weeks, Alos had been diligently standing in for Christian.

Thanks to his improved mastery over the Christian Order’s insignia, he could now maintain a long-lasting disguise.

Those two weeks had been a blast for Alos.

“Hahaha! This is the life!”

Because Christian had gone off on a wild tangent, stealing poison techniques from Amar and causing chaos, Alos had enjoyed a surprisingly comfortable fortnight.

Everyone seemed to avoid eye contact with Alos disguised as Christian, as if steering clear of a mad dog. Alos felt like a fox disguised as a tiger, living each day with thrilling excitement.

But today, that happiness turned into hell.

“Ughhh!! Why isn’t he showing up?! If this keeps up, I’m going to have to fight myself!!”

The faction of Marquis Goras, humiliated by Christian, was grinding their teeth in anger.

By the way, over thirty high-ranking poison masters—five- and six-star level—had signed up for this Holy Grail duel.

Alos would have to drink all their poisons.

He wouldn’t even leave a corpse behind.

“Christian… did he just ditch me as bait and run off?”

Alos swallowed hard.

“You bastard, come back soon! I don’t want to die!”

But no matter how much time passed, Christian didn’t appear. The angry shouts of the Extreme Poison Maga minions echoed.

“What the hell is going on?! He didn’t run away, did he?!”

“Come out right now, Christian!!”

“I’ll turn you into bloodstains!!”

Alos tore at his hair.

“Ughhh!! Damn you!! You’re dead meat! Demon bastard!! If I die, I’ll haunt you and get my revenge.”

“What was that?”

“…Huh?”

Alos blinked.

Suddenly, Christian appeared!

“Did you just say that to me?”

“H-hey! No way! I respect you so much, Archduke! Long live the Archduke!!”

Christian chuckled and patted Alos on the shoulder.

“You’ve done well so far.”

Alos’s eyes wavered.

“B-but are you really going to fight? Wouldn’t it be better to avoid it?”

Merlin, Ghost Mari, and Marisa all nodded in agreement.

“That’s right. It’s reckless. Because of your provocation, over thirty high-level poison masters are joining the duel.”

Merlin sighed.

“We’ve also received multiple messages from Lord Nordian, head of the main family, and Count Kazar, his deputy. They’re telling you to stop this madness and return to the family immediately.”

Marisa chimed in.

“Yeah. I don’t know what you’ve been up to these past two weeks, but even if you’ve achieved legendary poison immunity, this is too much.”

Even with legendary poison immunity, you’re not invincible.

“You can shrug off most poisons, but there are limits with true-strength poisons and mental poisons. Legendary immunity doesn’t protect your willpower.”

Still.

“I’m fine. I can do this.”

“You…!”

Christian grinned and took a step forward.

“Just wait and see. You’re in for a show.”

Stepping outside, they saw the countless Extreme Poison Maga minions.

“!!”

Suddenly, the arena fell silent.

The voices that had been eagerly criticizing Christian just moments ago were now as quiet as a mouse.

The minions swallowed hard.

“What’s this feeling?”

“Has something changed?”

Christian was deliberately suppressing his aura, hiding the fact that he had reached six-star poison mastery.

But even without showing it, the minions instinctively sensed something was off.

“Hmm.”

Christian’s relaxed gaze swept over Marquis Goras’s faction.

“You’re all huddled together like rats.”

The faces of Goras’s faction stiffened.

“Quiet, all of you. Scared, are you?”

“!!”

“For a group as big as you, isn’t it a little embarrassing to be afraid of just me?”

Their faces flushed red.

They were about to engage in a ludicrous thirty-to-one duel.

Even though Christian had demanded it first, as minions, it was shameful. And with such provocation, their anger flared.

At that moment, a white-haired old man stood up.

“Watch your words.”

“And you are?”

“I am Yohen. An elder of the main family and the ‘Poison Master.’ Old as I am, I still hold power as the second-in-command of Marquis Goras’s faction.”

Christian’s eyes flickered with interest.

“A big shot has appeared.”

Yohen was a seven-star top-tier poison master.

Though well past retirement age, he refused to give up power and ruled as the right hand of Marquis Goras’s faction.

“I’ve heard what you’ve done to the main family. Your arrogance has brought them many insults. Death would be the just punishment, but as an elder who cares for Extreme Poison Maga, I cannot ignore our ties with the Dark Maga. I advise you to reconsider this duel.”

“Reconsider?”

“Yes. If you continue, death is inevitable.”

Yohen continued.

“Instead, as atonement for your crimes against the main family, offer one eye, one arm, and one leg. Out of mercy, we will overlook your sins to that extent.”

Christian caught the cruel gleam in Yohen’s eyes and swallowed his smile.

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Remember, this is mercy.”

“Hey, old man. If you’re going to keep spouting nonsense like that, why don’t you just go back to the nursing home?”

“!!”

Christian smirked.

“I say this: if you kneel and apologize for the crimes your Dark Maga faction committed against us, I might show mercy.”

“…What do you mean?”

“You poisoned our Dark Maga territory not long ago.”

Christian flicked his finger.

“Sure, Marquis Goras was punished, but you weren’t innocent either. I know all about your involvement, big or small. Apologize now, and I’ll forgive you.”

That was why Christian acted so arrogantly toward Marquis Goras’s faction—they were the ones who started it.

Old Yohen shook his head.

“You’re impossible. Don’t regret this. We warned you. We bear no responsibility for what happens in this duel.”

Finally, the duel began.

The rules were simple.

Each person poured poison into a cup, then drank each other’s poison.

“I’ll take the Holy Grail first. Everyone, place your cups before me.”

Christian plopped down in the center of the arena.

The minions of Marquis Goras’s faction exchanged glances, then one by one stood and placed their cups in front of Christian.

“Count Matthias. My mental poison, ‘Curse of the Empty Soul.’”

“Baron Alfred. My true-strength poison, ‘Heart’s Ruin.’”

“Baron Max. My mental poison…”

In an instant, over thirty cups were lined up before Christian.

Each one contained a terrifying poison—six-star mental poisons or five-star true-strength poisons.

The arena fell into a heavy silence.

‘What is that madman thinking?’

‘He won’t last a single cup. Why such reckless bravado?’

‘He’ll turn into a bloodstain.’

The Extreme Poison Maga minions clicked their tongues at Christian’s foolishness.

Merlin, Mari, and Alos clenched their teeth.

They trusted Christian, but this time, it just didn’t feel right.

Just as they were about to stand up, Christian lifted the first cup and drank it all in one gulp.

“Ah.”

Marisa’s face went pale.

The poison Christian just drank was a six-star high-level mental poison from Count Robert.

And it specialized in killing humans.

There was no way he could survive.

Everyone held their breath, watching for his reaction.

Christian stood still, motionless after swallowing the poison.

‘Is he trying to resist it with magic?’

‘It won’t matter. This mental poison is deadly even to the skin, and he just ingested it directly. His organs will melt.’

After what felt like an eternity, Christian finally showed a reaction.

“Ugh.”

He twitched as if about to gag.

Everyone expected him to vomit blood.

But then—

“Damn, that’s bitter. What kind of taste is this?”

He cursed and stuck out his tongue.

Completely fine.

For a moment, everyone doubted their eyes and stared at Christian.

‘What? He’s unaffected?’

‘No way.’

But it was true.

Not a single change in his complexion.

The poison masters of the Extreme Poison Guild all turned their gaze toward Count Robert, a high-ranking six-star poison master and the source of the poison Chris had just ingested.

“Could it be that you spared Archduke Christian by not giving him the full mental poison?”

“No, no, that’s not it. I definitely gave him my signature mental poison—the ‘Severing Toxin.’ How could this be?”

Amid the confusion, Chris took his next action.

He raised the cup and drank another dose of poison.

This time, it was a five-star True Strength poison.

‘Already?’

‘There’s no way he can withstand this.’

Yet, he remained perfectly fine.

He only scrunched up his face in disgust at the awful taste.

“Ugh, does this taste like a sewer? Damn it.”

“!!”

Chris kept drinking.

Three cups, four cups, five cups.

Eventually, he even downed two cups at once.

No matter how much he drank, he stayed unharmed.

The entire Extreme Poison Guild was thrown into a panic by this impossible knight.

‘He drank True Strength and Mental poisons directly and is completely fine? That’s absurd!’

‘It can’t be!’

The deadly nature of the Holy Grail duel lies in ingesting lethal poisons directly into the body—even a mere brush of the skin can be fatal.

It’s like a Black Strength or Mental poison detonating inside the body.

And yet, he’s unharmed?

‘Could he possibly be the legendary Poison-Immune?’

‘No! Even the Poison-Immune can’t ingest True Strength and Mental poisons directly!’

Meanwhile, Chris smirked inwardly at the reactions of the Extreme Poison Guild’s masters.

‘There’s always a secret.’

In truth, this duel was half a cheat.

It was overwhelmingly in his favor.

It wasn’t just that he had perfected the vessel of the Heavenly Poison Constitution, achieving poison immunity.

Chris had three ‘cheats’ up his sleeve that would guarantee his victory in the Holy Grail duel.