Episode 33
The moment Chris plunged the dagger earlier—
At that instant, he had secretly hidden a prepared sacrificial offering inside the palm of the hand gripping the blade.
And when he drew out the ebony dagger, he had switched it out.
A trick as smooth as magic.
After all, he had once been renowned as the best pickpocket around, so such sleight of hand was easy for him.
“Heh heh. If I consume this ebony, my mana deficiency should be somewhat resolved.”
Chris wore a satisfied grin.
Meanwhile, Alos and the other demonic beings stood there, mouths agape, staring at Chris in shock.
Even after witnessing it with their own eyes, they simply couldn’t believe what Chris had just pulled off.
“Looks like you’re so stunned you can’t even speak.”
“!!”
“Come now, Alos. Do you still think I don’t deserve to attend the Sacred Ebony Rite?”
Alos’s face flushed red.
He had condemned the rogue Chris as unworthy of participating in the rite.
In truth, it wasn’t just Alos’s opinion—it was the direct order of ‘Loin de Barron,’ the bloodline of the Dark Mana.
Alos had no words to counter.
Chris smirked, lifting the corner of his mouth.
“Well then, why don’t you call me ‘brother’?”
“What?”
“You promised earlier, didn’t you? That if I helped you, you’d accept me as your elder brother.”
“That’s nonsense!”
“Hah, denying a promise after making it? The Tiramain family’s sense of honor is pretty flimsy.”
“When did I ever make such a promise?! And I’m two years older than you!”
“Age doesn’t matter when it comes to siblings. The weaker one is the younger.”
He shrugged, but suddenly the entire hall fell silent.
Everyone snapped their mouths shut.
No one had told them to.
They all felt it—the sudden surge of murderous intent.
A chilling, oppressive aura began to fill the hall.
No, it was as if the abyss itself was creeping in.
“What the—?”
Chris’s eyes widened.
The source of the murderous energy was clear.
The altar.
No, the rift to Gehenna.
Beyond the seal that blocked the rift, suffocating malice was rising.
As if it might explode at any moment.
“Damn it.”
Chris swallowed hard.
Cold sweat formed on his clenched fists without him realizing it.
He knew this phenomenon well.
“The presence of Gehenna is trying to cross over!”
He had experienced this countless times during the Age of Destruction.
“But why? There’s nothing wrong with the magic circle.”
Chris’s face showed confusion.
Then—
Boom.
His pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
Energy burst forth from the rift, distorting space itself, shaking everyone’s vision into chaos.
Evil energy.
A malevolent force distinct from mana.
A suffocating, viscous wickedness filled his sight, and with a smoky mist, a horrifying being descended.
A towering figure.
Three pairs of horns sprouting from its forehead.
Four arms.
A demonic face, human-like yet distinctly otherworldly.
It was a ‘Demonkin’—a servant race commanded by the devils.
“Demonkin? Are you kidding me?”
There were two kinds of transcendent beings in the world.
The ‘Celestials’ of the Heavenly Realm, and the ‘Demons’ of Gehenna.
They symbolized justice and evil, respectively.
Demonkin were the minions of the demons.
“Damn it. Why the hell are Demonkin popping up here all of a sudden?”
Chris’s face turned pale at the unexpected crisis.
You might think that since they were demonic beings, they’d be on the same side as the Demonkin.
But that was a misconception.
The Mana Empire’s demonic beings sought the power of darkness, valuing strength and the rule of the strong.
They were clearly different from evil.
Of course, some demons did worship the devils.
But just as not all humans worship the Celestials, only a fraction of demonic beings revered the devils.
And since devil worship always ended in horrific destruction, most demonic beings were wary of them.
“What’s going on? Did someone tamper with the magic circle?”
He had no idea.
There was no time to calmly investigate.
The Demonkin turned its head and looked down at them.
[Filthy humans… pathetic.]
“!!”
Chris gritted his teeth.
The aura of the Demonkin was filled with a corrupting evil that could overwhelm those with weak willpower.
In fact, most of the demonic guards were trembling in fear, unable to withstand the Demonkin’s malevolent energy.
Only Alos, the strongest among them, remained relatively composed.
Chris spoke firmly.
“What’s the meaning of this presence from Gehenna? Aren’t you afraid of the pact with the Celestials? Return to Gehenna immediately!”
The Demonkin’s eyes flickered with interest.
[You know about the pact between Gehenna and the Celestials?]
“……”
Chris said nothing.
He knew.
The pact that forbade demons and Celestials from directly intervening in the mortal realm.
But Chris also knew how hollow that pact really was.
The Demonkin spoke.
[Then you must also know that I have no problem taking the lives of your worthless kind.]
“!!”
[This little entertainment is nothing.]
Though the pact existed, it wasn’t strictly enforced.
A Demonkin crossing the rift and killing a few humans was considered a minor breach, not a serious violation.
“Damn it. What should I do?”
Chris clenched his fists tightly.
Demonkin were no opponents for cheap tricks.
“Even if it’s a low-ranking Demonkin, it’s far beyond what I can handle right now.”
Having faced many Demonkin during the Age of Destruction, Chris could gauge their strength.
Even a low-ranking Demonkin possessed power equivalent to a five-star warrior by human standards.
As he pondered his options, the Demonkin unexpectedly spoke.
[But killing you all outright would be boring.]
“What?”
[Opportunities for such entertainment don’t come often.]
The Demonkin smiled cruelly.
[How about making a contract with me?]
“!!”
It raised one arm, pointing directly at Chris.
[Kill all the other humans with your own hands and offer them to me as a sacrifice. Then I will spare your life—and grant you my blessing.]
“!!”
The demonic guards of the Tiramain family widened their eyes, shaken.
Chris let out a bitter laugh.
‘This bastard.’
The reason the Demonkin made such an offer was obvious.
Because it was amusing.
Devils and their minions were like that.
Pure embodiments of evil.
The more others suffered and agonized, the more they delighted in it.
Chris glanced at Alos and the Tiramain family’s demonic guards.
They wore faces of despair, utterly hopeless.
They assumed Chris would accept the Demonkin’s offer.
Because there was no other way to survive.
But—
‘I don’t particularly like the Tiramain family.’
They were people he didn’t care if they lived or died.
Still, Chris spat on the ground.
“Shut up.”
[…What?]
“Shut your filthy mouth. I’m not doing that.”
The Tiramain family’s demonic guards glared fiercely.
Alos shouted with difficulty.
“What are you doing?! You think we’d be grateful if you did that?!”
“Then should I just hand my neck over to that Demonkin?”
Alos fell silent, unable to answer.
Chris chuckled.
“It’s not for your sake. No matter how precious life is, I have a principle: never deal with the spawn of Gehenna.”
He meant it.
Chris vividly remembered how the presence of Gehenna’s spawn had turned the surface world into a living hell.
There would be no compromise.
Above all—
“There is one way.”
“Instead, I propose a different wager.”
[Hmm?]
The Demonkin’s expression showed interest.
It was the confidence of absolute power.
No matter what schemes an ant might hatch, it could never defeat a lion.
[What kind of wager?]
“First, hold on a moment.”
Chris stretched out his hand toward the demonic guards.
A cursed black magic manifested.
[Curse of Sleep]
The demonic guards, already half-conscious under the Demonkin’s oppressive aura, instantly fell into a deep sleep.
All except one—Alos, who shouted in surprise.
He had strong enough mana resistance that the sleep curse didn’t affect him.
“Wh-why?”
Chris frowned.
For his plan to work, he needed them all unconscious.
“…If you stay awake, the evil energy will affect you badly. Just sleep.”
“Th-that can’t be…”
“Just sleep.”
Bam!
Chris’s fist struck Alos squarely.
He screamed and collapsed, unconscious.
Chris didn’t stop there.
He pulled out a dagger and threw it like lightning toward somewhere.
Thud!
A bat perched in the corner of the room was pierced by the dagger.
Amazingly, the bat turned into a mist of blood and vanished.
It wasn’t an ordinary bat!
‘I knew there was a watchful eye.’
He had a rough idea where the surveillance came from and had deliberately left it be.
But not anymore.
From now on, the method Chris would use must never be detected.
[Interesting. What are you scheming?]
The Demonkin looked at Chris like a toy performing tricks.
“I, Christian, stake my soul and propose a wager. Let me strike you once. If you can withstand my attack, you admit defeat and I will offer you my soul.”
“What? Hahaha. Are you insane?”
The Demonkin burst into a loud, mocking laugh.
“Fine. I accept your challenge. I won’t retaliate—attack me however you like.”
Its eyes gleamed with greed.
[But your soul will be mine. Even after death, you will find no rest—you will become my plaything, tormented for all eternity.]
A chilling tale.
Yet this was the fate of those who sold their souls to demons and the demon race.
Better to die outright than to accept such a curse—an absolute rule never to be broken. But instead of fear, Chris quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Bingo.”
Did that demon even realize the trap it had fallen into?
Chris had a plan.
A way to bring down that demon with a single strike.
[Whatever your scheme is, it’s truly foolish.]
“Well, we’ll see who’s foolish soon enough.”
Chris pulled an item from his pocket in the pocket dimension.
His secret trump card to turn the tide.
The demon’s eyes widened in surprise.
[That is…?]
A voice trembling with uncertainty.
It was no wonder.
A sword, heavily rusted and broken clean in two.
What Chris had drawn was the shattered holy sword, Grunade.
A weapon with absolute advantage against evil beings.
“Damn it!”
Far from the Forbidden Zone, in the forest, Vampire Simon rose from his seat, his voice laced with frustration.
‘No way… he saw through my stealth.’
Earlier, the bat pierced by the dagger Chris threw in the cave was actually Simon’s clone, created through hematomancy.
With the bat destroyed, Simon had no way to move into the cave.
‘Damn. I only wanted to stop the demon at a reasonable point.’
Simon was the one who summoned the demon.
But he never intended to kill Chris.
It was all just a ‘game.’
He was curious to see how Christian would react when pushed to the edge, so he played this little trick, planning to intervene just before things got truly bad.
But now, everything was falling apart.
At this rate, not only Christian but everyone present would fall to the demon’s hands.