Chapter 305
‘Could it be… the Demon King has appeared?’
This was completely unexpected.
‘In my previous life, no matter what happened to the Triangular Alliance, he never so much as flinched.’
Before him stood a man cloaked head to toe in a robe, exuding a chilling aura as if he had risen from the depths of the abyss.
The Demon King of Sorrow.
A Demon King born of the Cursed Magic lineage, he was on the same level as the Azure Stream Demon King—both ranked at the lower ninth star.
‘Anyway, now is not the time to stand frozen.’
Chris straightened his posture.
Though an overwhelming pressure pressed down on him, his spirit had risen enough to withstand it.
“Great Demon King, may I ask the purpose of your visit? Please, grant me your will.”
His voice was respectful yet confident.
‘No reason to be afraid of this opponent.’
Chris knew the Demon King of Sorrow well—better even than the Azure Stream Demon King.
But then—
[You… have come to kill me.]
“!!”
[You have crossed a line I cannot forgive. I will kill you.]
A chilling declaration.
Though ranked eighth, this was no opponent Chris could face lightly.
It was a crisis, yet Chris remained surprisingly composed.
“You must be joking. You don’t care about the Triangular Alliance at all, do you?”
[!!]
“You came simply out of curiosity about who I am, isn’t that right?”
Suddenly, the oppressive hostility in the room ceased.
Chris sensed the Demon King of Sorrow casting a strange glance beyond his robe.
[You’re arrogant. How did you know what I was thinking?]
‘Because I met you in my previous life.’
In the latter days of the Age of Destruction, the hero’s party had gathered the remaining forces of the Holy Empire to advance toward the Triangular Alliance.
Back then, the Demon King of Sorrow had blocked their path just as he was doing now.
‘He made a show of it, but when it came to fighting, he just let us pass.’
In fact, the Demon King had said something like this:
—I’ll let you go. Defeat the Demon Emperor.
At the time, Chris had been puzzled by this, since the Demon King of Sorrow was not the Bloodshed Demon King but had pointed to the Demon Emperor.
Now, he had a guess.
“From the start, aren’t you bound by the Demon Emperor’s will?”
[!!]
The atmosphere in the room turned icy.
But Chris believed he had spoken the truth.
[…You’re interesting. That’s right.]
The Demon King of Sorrow let out a low chuckle.
[But I’m not the only one. None of us are free.]
“!!”
[You, me, everyone—no one has escaped the Demon Emperor’s chains.]
A meaningful statement.
It meant everything in this world was in the Demon Emperor’s palm.
‘All the terrible things to come are also by his design.’
Chris shook his head and spoke.
“No, you’re wrong. I have no intention of being a pawn of the Demon Emperor. If he ever strays from the right path, I will set him straight.”
He spoke his mind without hesitation.
Judging from the atmosphere in both his past and present lives, the Demon King of Sorrow was strongly opposed to the Demon Emperor, so Chris felt safe making such a bold statement.
[You? You think you can? Impossible.]
“Do you think I can’t?”
Chris smirked arrogantly.
“You’ve watched me. You know what kind of person I am.”
[…]
The Demon King of Sorrow stared at Chris for a moment, as if measuring his capacity.
[Fine, you’re a monster. I admit it. You will become a far greater being than someone like me.]
Praise from a Demon King.
[But even so, you’re still overreaching. The Demon Emperor is…]
The Demon King suddenly sealed his lips, as if the very name was too dreadful to speak.
Chris’s heart sank at the sight of even a Demon King trembling in fear.
‘What on earth?’
The Demon King of Sorrow slowly stepped back.
[One piece of advice.]
“…What is it?”
[Watch the Four Demon Castles.]
“!!”
[The fragment of truth you seek is hidden there.]
Then the Demon King vanished.
It seemed his only intention had been to get a glimpse of who Chris was.
‘The Four Demon Castles, huh.’
Chris fell into thought.
Just as he had suspected, the secret he sought was surely hidden within those castles.
‘Since I plan to become the lord of the Four Demon Castles anyway, once I take control, I’ll know everything.’
But that was not all.
There was the Mystic Magic lineage, the Demon Emperor, and perhaps even the Celestial Realm and Gehenna to face.
Though the path ahead was daunting, Chris believed he could overcome it.
No—he would overcome it.
‘For the future when all this ends, and I can finally blow my horn as the Flame of the Unseen!’
With firm resolve, he turned his gaze toward the Karn Empire.
A place where he had once been emperor in his previous life.
It was time to take it back.
The Karn Empire.
The undisputed strongest nation within the Crusade Alliance.
It bordered the Eastern Magic Kingdom of the Four Demon Castles—one of the most dangerous magic nations—and the Northern Magic Kingdom of the Mystic Magic lineage.
It was the shield and hope of the Alliance, a land that had produced countless heroes through its long history of fighting the Magic Empire.
The most famous hero recently was Marquis Radia.
A frontier lord responsible for the northern border of the Karn Empire, and a legendary figure in the region despite being a woman.
When the Northern Magic Kingdom’s Magic Artificer launched a surprise attack to destroy the dam on the river flowing through the northern Karn Empire, she and a small group of knights stood firm and stopped them.
If not for Marquis Radia’s efforts, the Karn Empire would have been engulfed in a terrible disaster.
However, she died in the fierce battle, and the Karn royal family designated the battlefield as a sacred site in her honor.
Nearly twenty years had passed, and the site was now almost abandoned.
Only the loyal retainers who had served the Radia family remained to maintain it.
“If we die, who will look after this sacred site?”
“I know. The Marquis left no heirs, and no relatives remain.”
The retainers spoke bitterly.
The Radia family was the most prestigious noble house in the Karn Empire.
Not because of power or wealth—they were actually lacking in those—but because the empire’s people never hesitated to call them the most honorable family.
A family whose loyalty to the empire was beyond question.
But their excessive loyalty was also their downfall.
The Radia family always fought on the front lines and suffered heavy losses.
“Especially the last Marquis. She left no spouse or children, and the few relatives she had all perished in that final battle.”
Thus, the Radia family had vanished completely.
The Karn royal family kept the name of the Marquis family as a tribute to their loyalty, but with no members left, it was meaningless.
“Maybe the Marquis left a child behind?”
“Hey, don’t believe those rumors.”
“I’m just saying it out of wishful thinking.”
There had long been rumors in the empire that the Marquis had a secret child.
She had once secluded herself for about a year in an unknown place, which fueled the gossip—but it was just that, gossip.
“Still, it’s sad. The empire she gave her life to protect is falling apart.”
“Falling apart? It’s a complete mess. The Marquis would be weeping from the heavens.”
“The princes are all trying to ruin the empire.”
The retainers’ lament reflected the dire state of the Karn Empire.
Then, footsteps echoed.
A young man approached the sacred site, radiating an aura of such grace that it drew gasps.
“Who are you?”
The retainers, sensing something unusual, asked warily.
“I am the Hero.”
“!!”
They were stunned.
“Could it be? The one who captured the Demon Sword King in the Holy Empire?”
“No! They say he captured the Demon King!”
“I heard he cut down ten thousand demons with the Holy Sword!”
The hero’s reputation had spread far and wide, even to the Karn Empire.
“Why have you come here, Hero?”
The cautious question was met with an unexpected answer.
“This is where my roots lie.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I want you to lead me to the Sacred Pearl.”
The retainers were thrown into confusion.
Roots? What did he mean?
Before they could ask, the hero strode inside.
“W-wait!”
“No one may enter unless they are of the Radia bloodline!”
Inside, the reason this place was called a sacred site was revealed.
A radiant aura surged from a pearl bracelet at its center.
The Sacred Pearl, a family heirloom of the Radia house, had been in a state of wild energy since the Marquis’s death.
‘Only those of the Radia bloodline can wield this sacred relic. The Karn royal family declared that whoever controls the Sacred Pearl shall be granted the title of Marquis Radia.’
Chris thought to himself.
‘In other words, if I can control this, I can become the Marquis Radia.’
An astonishing prospect.
His visit was a form of identity laundering.
To debut in the Karn Empire, he needed a respectable status.
The Radia family, with its supreme honor, was perfect.
The only question was whether he could control this sacred relic.
‘Easy. It’s not my first time.’
Among Chris’s many talents in his previous life was artifact excavation and tomb raiding.
Though originally for wealth and glory, the great war that followed left him with no riches but earned him the useless nickname “The Light Excavator” for his help to the Alliance.
Anyway, he had once possessed the lordship.
‘Though it’s a form of bloodline imprinting, that doesn’t mean there’s no way around it. After all, bloodline imprints are just another kind of security measure.’
It had been possible back then, so why only now?
Chris closed his eyes briefly, analyzing the security spell on the lordship—and then pierced right through it, breaking it down.
Having done this once before, it went much faster this time.
“W-what? How is this possible?”
“How?”
The retainers watching the scene widened their eyes in disbelief.
He was controlling the lordship that was granted solely to the bloodline of the Radia Marquis family.
What could this mean?
“C-could it be that you—?”
“Didn’t I say? I came looking for my roots.”
“!!”
At that moment, the retainers’ eyes filled with awe and reverence.
Suddenly, a transparent figure materialized above the lordship.
A beautiful woman with a strong, commanding presence.
The spirit of the Radia Marquis.
“M-Marquis?!”
“That’s a lingering thought left in the relic. She has something to say, so please step back for a moment.”
As the retainers withdrew, Chris looked up at the spirit of the Radia Marquis.
“Is there something you want to tell me?”
Instead of answering directly, the Marquis spoke in a faint voice:
—For the glory of the Karn Empire…
The spirit wasn’t truly self-aware; it was merely the will of the late Radia Marquis, who had pledged her loyalty to the Karn Empire in life.
To carry such devotion even after death—she was truly an extraordinary figure.
“I’ll make your wish come true.”
Chris nodded firmly.
“So, I’ll be impersonating your family from now on. I hope you’ll overlook that.”
Had she agreed?
He wasn’t sure, but Chris believed the Radia Marquis wouldn’t oppose his deception.
After all, it was all for the Karn Empire.
‘Without this, there’s no way to set the Karn Empire’s royal family straight.’
And time was running out.
Everything had to be finished within a month at the latest.
This wasn’t a time for subtlety—it called for bold, unprecedented moves.
With a soft shimmer, the spirit of the Radia Marquis faded away, and the retainers hurried back.
“W-what did the Marquis say?”
“She entrusted me with her will and asked me to take good care of the Karn Empire.”
“Aah! Young Marquis!”
Tears of joy streamed down the retainers’ faces.
They had accepted Chris as part of the Radia bloodline.
“But… Young Marquis, may I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
One of the retainers hesitated before speaking.
“Why have you never appeared until now?”
A reasonable question.
The Karn Empire’s royal family had searched everywhere for the Radia Marquis bloodline.
“I had to keep my identity hidden.”
“Why?”
“Because of my father. If I revealed it too soon, my life would be in danger.”
Everyone looked puzzled.
Who could be so threatening as to endanger the bloodline of the Radia Marquis family?
Then, the name that would shake the Karn Empire like a storm slipped from Chris’s lips.
“The great Emperor Grossman II of the Karn Empire. He is my father.”
That’s right.
The secret child of the current emperor and a former hero.
This was the disguise Chris had chosen.
The arrival of a calamity destined to overturn the Karn Empire.