Episode 30
“What is it?”
“If I win this duel, please allow me to attend the Ebony Hunt not as a mere herder, but as a guardian beast handler.”
Count Tiramyn frowned.
A guardian beast handler is the role assigned to protect during the final ritual of the Ebony Hunt.
It’s as important a role as the main figure presiding over the ritual.
“You do understand how crucial the guardian beast handler’s role is, don’t you?”
“I do. It’s just that attending only as a herder hurts my pride. After all, I’m the eldest son of the Count Kazar family. Shouldn’t I at least be the second lead?”
“What? Ha! You’re truly arrogant.”
Count Tiramyn burst out laughing, clearly incredulous.
But then his tone turned cold.
“I wish your strength matched even half of your arrogance.”
Chris shrugged.
“You’ll see soon enough.”
And so, the second duel began.
True to their beast-handling lineage, there was a large training ground.
Upon hearing the news, the Tiramyn household’s beast handlers swarmed in.
“The Kazar family’s wild brat is dueling young Master Alos? How long do you think that brat will last? A minute? Two?”
“Last? That notorious wild brat? He’ll probably soil himself out of fear when he sees the beast’s power.”
“If he does, the Kazar family will have to clean it up.”
The Tiramyn household’s handlers snickered.
No one expected Alos to lose.
Naturally.
Because it was Chris.
Known far beyond the Dark Mage families, throughout the entire Mage Empire, as a worthless wild brat.
Though those close to Chris knew he had changed, outsiders did not.
To them, Chris was still a pitiful wild brat.
Even though he had defeated Alos yesterday, they chalked it up to Alos’s carelessness.
If Alos had properly used his beast-handling magic, there was no way he could lose.
That was the unanimous belief of the Tiramyn household, and they prepared to watch the duel with confidence.
Some even taunted the handlers who had come with Chris.
“Hey, Kazar scum. Shouldn’t you stop your young master?”
“Beasts don’t care if you’re a noble. What if he soils himself?”
But the reactions from Chris’s entourage were strange.
They didn’t get angry.
Nor did they agree.
Instead—
“Idiots with twisted eyes.”
“…What?”
“Shut up and watch carefully.”
They sneered at the Tiramyn household’s handlers.
“Let’s see which one of you ends up wetting yourselves.”
The Tiramyn handlers looked utterly dumbfounded.
At that moment, Chris and Alos stepped onto the training ground.
Alos was not alone.
He was accompanied by a massive beast.
“The beast I’ll be handling is the ‘Dark Horse.’”
True to its name, it resembled a horse—but with a difference.
Its size was nearly twice that of a normal horse, and rather than sleek, it had the bulk and feel of a wild boar.
Alos leapt up and mounted the Dark Horse.
He intended to fight while riding the beast.
“Let me warn you: because of the nature of beast-handling magic, once the duel starts, there will be no mercy. Kneel now and apologize to me, and I might forgive you.”
Chris responded not with words, but by swinging his staff this way and that.
For this duel, Chris had chosen to use a wooden staff instead of a sword.
There were several reasons.
First, the staff’s longer reach made it advantageous against beasts.
“Mind if I say something?”
“…What?”
“If you get beaten and start whining, don’t expect any mercy—even if you cry.”
Alos’s face flared red.
“Arrogant brat! You’ll regret this!”
He charged.
The black beast thundered forward.
Despite its massive bulk, it was fast.
A charge combining speed and weight!
The impact alone could shatter bones in an instant.
Alos smiled fiercely, confident of victory.
‘Huh?’
Chris vanished from sight.
Alos was stunned.
He had been right in front of him, but now he was gone.
Then—
Bam!
“Gah!”
Alos’s head snapped back.
A sharp pain radiated across his face.
Stars seemed to dance before his eyes.
Only then did he realize he’d been struck by Chris’s staff.
Through the blurry haze of pain, he saw Chris flicking the staff mockingly.
“Does it hurt?”
Chris grinned slyly.
“But don’t you dare cry or give up. This is just the beginning.”
Another reason Chris had chosen the staff?
He liked to beat people up.
The training ground fell silent.
The Tiramyn household’s handlers were speechless, eyes wide.
An unbelievable, shocking scene was unfolding.
Bam!
“Y-You bastard?!”
Bam!!
“Gah!”
Alos was being pummeled relentlessly.
It was almost mockery.
‘Am I seeing things?’
‘How is that wild brat…?’
Alos’s beast-handling magic was no joke.
If anything, he had sharpened his skills, and his magic was in peak condition.
Yet it had no effect on Chris.
The Dark Horse charged fiercely at Chris.
But Chris effortlessly blocked or dodged the attacks, then struck Alos back.
This scene repeated endlessly.
“H-How…?”
Alos stammered.
He couldn’t comprehend the situation.
Others might not understand, but Chris?
That worthless wild brat!
‘How is that brat…?’
Chris slung the staff over his shoulder and answered cheekily.
“Because I’m a genius.”
“!!”
“Dealing with a dullard like you is easy.”
“You bastard!!”
Alos pushed the Dark Horse forward again with all his might.
But the outcome didn’t change.
Bam!
Stars flashed before Alos’s eyes once more.
This time, he didn’t even see the blow coming.
A deathly silence fell over the arena.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
Chris smirked and tossed the staff aside.
Thud!
Everyone stared in confusion at the sudden move.
“I don’t think you’re worth the staff anymore. From now on, I’ll fight you barehanded. Oh, and if you even touch my collar, I’ll call it your victory.”
An insult beyond measure.
“You… you…!”
Alos’s face burned with rage.
No handler worthy of the name would surrender after such humiliation.
“I will kill you! No matter what!”
Alos’s attacks grew fiercer.
As if fueled by his master’s fury, the Dark Horse’s movements became more violent.
Chris dodged and weaved, thinking to himself.
“Good. Just as planned.”
He had a purpose in this duel.
Was it to become a guardian beast handler?
To show his strength in front of everyone?
Those were part of it, but there was a more important goal.
“I need to steal the Tiramyn household’s beast-handling magic.”
His ultimate aim was to seize the Ebony.
To do that, he had to learn the Tiramyn family’s secret techniques.
That was why he had deliberately provoked this duel.
He wasn’t ready yet.
To fully analyze Alos’s beast-handling magic, Chris’s eyes sank deep, unnoticed by others.
“The flow of magical energy controlling the beast.”
He saw threads of magic extending from Alos toward the beast.
It was a dark magic of binding and domination.
The Mage Empire’s beast-handling magic differed from the allied ‘Taming’ technique.
Taming involved communicating with monsters to make them allies.
In contrast, the Mage Empire’s magic ‘dominates’ and ‘forces’ control through power.
“The higher the level of beast-handling magic, the fewer magical threads needed for efficient control.”
The highest level of beast-handling magic belonged to the ‘Beast Mage’ families—one of the twelve great mage houses.
Though the Tiramyn family’s magic wasn’t quite at that level, it was still very advanced.
“The core of the Tiramyn family’s magic is reinforcing control through dark magic rituals. They secretly mix in enchantments that paralyze the beast’s will—confusion, fear, excitement.”
Chris was already beginning to understand.
Just from this brief observation.
If others heard this, they’d be shocked and call it impossible.
But it was true.
What Chris had just uncovered was the very essence of the Tiramyn family’s beast-handling magic.
“Of course, I can’t grasp every detail yet. But knowing the core is enough.”
Chris thought.
“Now I just need to learn the secret technique to steal the Ebony.”
The Ebony comes from the bodies of Karazoff beasts.
If you kill them normally, you get ordinary spirit wood called ‘Hoidan.’
But to get Ebony, you must perform a special ritual before killing.
And for that ritual, the Tiramyn family’s secret technique was essential.
‘Hell’s Ecstasy.’
A secret technique that forces ‘death’ upon the beast.
Chris decided it was time to end the duel.
“I expected more. You couldn’t even touch my collar. Is that all you’ve got?”
“You… you…!”
“Maybe you should just give up.”
Chris spoke smoothly.
“If you kneel and beg for forgiveness now, I might show mercy. In fact, I might even take you in as my brother.”
Alos ground his teeth.
“I will… I will kill you!”
‘Bingo.’ The provocation worked.
Alos pushed the Dark Horse to its limits.
Every movement of the magic controlling the Dark Horse was etched into Chris’s mind through his retina.
“Not yet. More.”
The Dark Horse charged at Chris with wild fury, rearing up high.
It was about to strike down with its forelegs.
The thorns, densely embedded like sharp spikes in the horse’s hooves, gleamed with a chilling glint.
The thrill of battle.
And in the midst of it, the dark horse’s eyes—bloodshot and blazing red—revealed the overwhelming surge of magic coursing through Alos’s mind.
At that moment, Chris realized that Alos’s control over the beast had reached its peak.
“Now!”
Chris didn’t dodge.
Instead, he unleashed a dark spell.
[Death’s Terror]
It was as if a blade had fallen upon the throat, spraying a fountain of blood.
Death’s terror pierced the beast’s mind like a dagger.
Frozen stiff with fear, the dark horse’s movements halted.
“Th-this…?”
“Death’s Terror,” Chris said deliberately, revealing the nature of his dark magic.
“There’s no way your crude sorcery can overcome this.”
“!!”
“Just give up. Accept your defeat.”
“Shut up!!”
Chris saw Alos squeezing out his last ounce of strength.
A powerful thread of magic reached toward the beast.
He was about to use a secret technique to force death upon the creature.
Exactly what Chris wanted.
He focused intently, studying the scene.
How the magic moved, the principles behind each incantation.
The patterns they formed.
The density and wavelength of the magic.
How it dominated the beast’s mind.
What effect each spell had on the creature—and how they combined to enforce death.
Greater terror.
Ecstasy that followed.
Submission.
The secret technique of the Tyramin Count’s family, ‘Hell’s Ecstasy,’ imprinted itself in Chris’s mind without a single detail missed.
“Enough! Prepare yourself!!”
At the very moment the beast was about to overcome Death’s Terror—or rather, when death was about to be forced upon it—
Bam!
Chris’s fist struck Alos’s face like lightning.
With a soft thud, Alos collapsed, consciousness slipping away.
“…”
Chris shrugged as he looked at the stunned and horrified retainers of the Tyramin Count’s family.
“Well then, I’ll see you at the ebony hunt.”