Chapter 245

Duke Huam’s face twisted in shock.

“You? Get out of here! This isn’t a place for you!”

He shouted urgently, his eyes fixed on Christian.

Then Duke Huam suddenly stiffened.

“You…?”

There was a completely different aura radiating from Christian now.

It wasn’t just that his power had grown stronger.

His very presence had transformed.

It was as if they were facing a being of the highest order—an overwhelming pressure emanated from him.

Duke Huam stared at Christian as if entranced, then shook his head desperately.

“This place is too dangerous. You must leave at once! I can’t let you get caught up in this!”

“That’s impossible. I’m a member of the Geukdok family too.”

“…What?”

Christian glanced mischievously at Marisa, who had appeared with him.

“Right, Marisa? We’re engaged, after all.”

“…Y-yeah.”

Marisa nodded, her face flushed bright red, clearly flustered.

Duke Huam looked utterly incredulous.

When on earth had these two gotten engaged?

Granted, he had hoped they might reconcile, but still.

“Anyway, now that I’m officially part of the Geukdok family, I intend to participate in the clan head selection battle.”

“What?”

“The clan head selection battle isn’t over yet, is it? So as a family member, I’ll be challenging for the position.”

It was absurd.

Of course, by the rules of the prestigious magic family, any member could challenge for the clan head during the selection battle.

“This is no time for nonsense.”

“I’m not challenging the clan head.”

Christian’s gaze shifted to Jin Noksa, who was glaring fiercely.

“I’ll take care of that ugly monster for you. Consider it a victory in the clan head selection battle.”

“!!”

Duke Huam was so stunned he didn’t know what to say.

“…You’re not seriously aiming for the clan head position yourself, are you? Or are you trying to force the Dark Alliance’s membership demand we talked about earlier?”

Christian nodded.

That was exactly it.

“You really think you can stop that monster?”

“Not stop. I’ll kill it.”

“!!”

His voice was filled with unwavering confidence, without a trace of doubt.

“That’s enough.”

Duke Huam swallowed hard.

It was unbelievable.

But maybe because of the strange pressure Christian gave off, it didn’t sound like a lie.

No, to be precise, he wanted to believe him. To pin his hopes on him.

“…If you really can stop that monster and save our Geukdok family, then we will gladly bring our family under the banner of the Dark Clan.”

Christian’s lips curled into a smile.

“Is that a promise?”

He took a step toward Jin Noksa.

Everyone from the Geukdok family was shocked by his unguarded approach.

“Dangerous?!”

“It’s fine. I’ll handle everything.”

“!!”

All eyes watched Christian anxiously.

Even Duke Huam couldn’t guess what he was thinking and swallowed nervously.

Finally, Christian stood before Jin Noksa.

Jin Noksa’s eyes gleamed with interest.

[You carry poison in your soul. For a mortal to possess such a soul’s rank… your soul’s rank rivals mine.]

Christian had always possessed the rank of a half-demon, but now, with his soul strengthened, his rank had risen even further.

‘If I manage to wield the Lost Flame, my soul’s rank might approach that of a demon or even a celestial.’

But that was a matter for later.

“Annoying. A disgusting monster corrupted by greed. You’re less than a worthless pest.”

[!!]

Jin Noksa radiated a fierce aura.

[How dare you insult the exalted me. I will devour your soul whole and use you as a sacrifice to fully resurrect myself.]

Jin Noksa licked his lips greedily.

He was not yet in perfect form.

If he could consume Christian’s poison-infused soul, he would become whole.

[Consider it an honor to be the foundation of my resurrection.]

Snap!

Jin Noksa’s gaze turned icy as he fixed it on Christian—and then something astonishing happened.

Christian’s entire body stiffened.

‘A miracle!’

It was similar to the “Roar of the Lion” used by Maximus, the Lion King of the Kalvern Kingdom.

But the power was incomparable.

Like a mouse caught by a snake, Christian was completely immobilized.

Jin Noksa’s mouth opened wide.

“W-Wait! Should we retreat?!”

“Grand Duke Christian!!”

The Geukdok family members panicked and reached out.

But it was useless.

Swallow.

Jin Noksa’s mouth engulfed Christian’s body like a serpent.

“What is this?”

As Christian was swallowed so easily, Duke Huam and the others looked on in despair.

Marisa, especially, stared blankly, unable to believe it.

Jin Noksa looked at the family members with satisfaction.

[Now it’s your turn. Starting with you, I will kill every human nearby, then ascend and finally achieve a great rank.]

Goooooo.

Poison surged again from Jin Noksa’s mouth.

Everyone’s faces turned pale.

Suddenly, something unexpected happened.

Fsssh.

The poison that had been gathering before Jin Noksa suddenly faded away like a candle flame being snuffed out.

[…What?]

Jin Noksa’s voice trembled with confusion.

Then—

[Gah!]

Jin Noksa vomited green blood and writhed in pain.

[W-What?! Kyaaaah!! No way? This guy…!!! Stop it!!]

The Geukdok family members finally realized Christian was doing something inside Jin Noksa’s body.

They were right.

Christian was not dead.

He was perfectly fine.

‘I expected Jin Noksa to swallow me.’

The reason he wasn’t dead was thanks to the Dark Magic.

He could defend against the digestive fluids with the control of Dark Magic.

Christian, wrapped in Dark Magic, looked around inside Jin Noksa’s body.

‘This must be near the core.’

Jin Noksa planned to use Christian as nourishment to restore himself.

He was moving him toward the core to absorb him as part of his own body.

Unaware that Christian was counting on this.

‘I can’t face the legendary beast Jin Noksa head-on.’

Right now, the power gap between Christian and Jin Noksa was like an ant versus a tiger.

But what if the ant managed to grab the tiger’s heart?

[You brat! I won’t let you get away with this!]

Jin Noksa reacted belatedly.

A fierce poison flared up.

It was pure destructive energy, seemingly unstoppable even by Dark Magic.

But Christian had a countermeasure.

“Shut up, pest. Stay still.”

[!!]

The moment Christian gave the order, Jin Noksa froze in place.

[W-What? Why? Could it be… the sealing formation?]

“Bingo.”

Christian smiled slyly.

“You think I wouldn’t prepare a leash when dealing with a nasty beast?”

As I said before, the Geukdok family’s history began to manage Jin Noksa’s seal.

So this main base, Jin Noksa Castle, served as a barrier to maintain the seal.

‘Most of the poison traps guarding Jin Noksa Castle exist to uphold the seal.’

But over countless years, the Geukdok family forgot their duty, and the seal’s maintenance was neglected.

Sometimes, the clan head who knew the sealing rituals died without naming a successor, and the knowledge was lost.

So much so that the Blue Stream Demon King was able to exploit the seal’s gaps to broker a contract with Marquis Goras.

But Christian had uncovered the activation method for the seal at Jin Noksa Castle.

‘I deciphered the poison array’s secret and found a shortcut to activate it. They all share the same core.’

Of course, it wasn’t easy.

Christian was a master of poison arrays, so he barely managed it.

‘Since it’s a shortcut, the effect won’t last long.’

At best, it would stop Jin Noksa for a minute or two.

Perhaps sensing this, Jin Noksa spoke arrogantly.

[It’s useless. You won’t even scratch my core.]

Christian swung his sword at Jin Noksa’s core.

Clang!

Though infused with powerful black steel energy, it didn’t budge.

‘Definitely beyond my strength.’

But—

“Sorry, but I brought just the right antidote for you.”

[…What?]

“Do you remember ‘Heavenly Poison’?”

[!!]

Jin Noksa showed signs of agitation.

He couldn’t not know.

It was the decisive reason he had been forced to kneel before the Poison Demon King.

[Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way you can wield Heavenly Poison.]

Jin Noksa sneered.

[You might have absorbed some poison to form a vessel for Heavenly Poison, but you’re no match for its true power.]

He wasn’t wrong.

The Heavenly Poison vessel was just a container.

To actually use Heavenly Poison, one had to reach the appropriate level.

‘Normally, that would mean reaching the ninth star of poison arts, like the Poison Demon King.’

But Christian had a surprising reply.

“No, I can. After all, Heavenly Poison is still a power beneath the darkness.”

[…What?]

“I’ll show you. The great power of darkness.”

Flash!

Christian closed his eyes.

His consciousness sank into the darkness made of his thoughts.

It was the Illusory Realm.

He had reached the sixth star level even with his dark magic.

Unlike the faint glimpse he had before, now his mind was completely engulfed in perfect darkness.

“I’ve reached the Painting Mirror faster than I expected.”

It was thanks to the poison elixir that had strengthened his soul, willpower, and body all at once.

“The Painting Mirror is infinite potential drawn in darkness.”

As long as his level allowed, any possibility could be brought into reality.

More precisely, it could be manifested through ‘Will Techniques.’

Unlike other Sixth-Rankers who could barely handle two or three Will Techniques, the Painting Mirror let him create and use them without limitation.

A power incomparable to any other Sixth-Ranker.

“I can even manifest Heavenly Poison through Will Techniques.”

Chris’s consciousness sank deeper and deeper.

Within the darkness, he began to shape the Heavenly Poison.

“Heavenly Poison is the poison formed by the will of the heavens to eradicate the world’s corruption.”

To wield such power, one had to reach the Ninth Rank’s Transcendent Realm, where they could directly intervene in the world’s causality.

But—

“Even if I can’t manipulate causality itself, I can still imitate the will of the heavens through darkness.”

Flash!

The dark world surrounding his consciousness shifted.

Bright light flickered alongside the darkness.

It was light shaped from radiant mana.

“Radiant mana is, after all, the power that carries the will of the heavens.”

His inner world changed again.

The bright light began to take on a vast green hue.

A deep, expansive green that seemed to hold the boundless sky itself.

This was the Heavenly Poison painted within the Painting Mirror.

“I’ve already attained the enlightenment of Heavenly Poison. I just lack the power to wield it.”

Instead, through the Painting Mirror, he had recreated the Heavenly Poison so that it could be controlled at his current level.