Chapter 335
But then, something unexpected happened.
Whoooosh!
Amidst the thick darkness, Edrinne’s soul began to recover.
The demon couldn’t bear to watch and intervened.
[You…]
A chilling voice hissed from the demon.
But Christian wore an even more composed expression.
The power dynamic between the two was clear as day.
“Let’s be honest. I don’t want to die either. But if I let you have your way, I’d rather die. Edrinne would want that too.”
He meant every word.
He could feel the demon’s silence.
“I’ll count to three. Release Edrinne and leave. Otherwise, you’ll lose all your vessels.”
Wooooooah!
Andril began to howl, his power surging.
“One.”
Christian murmured softly.
The demon stood still, refusing to comply.
Ignoring the demon, Christian continued calmly.
“Two.”
Kyaaaaaaah!
Was Andril rejoicing at the upcoming feast? He let out a soul-rending scream.
A fierce energy surged like a raging storm.
The tension was suffocating.
Still, the demon didn’t move.
Now, the final moment.
A choice had to be made.
Would he really destroy Edrinne’s soul and sacrifice his own along with it?
The demon probably thought Christian wouldn’t go through with it and stayed put.
But.
“If you chicken out, you die.”
Christian had never lost a gamble, not even against the greatest gambler in the alliance in his past life.
He knew better than anyone that backing down now meant the end.
Win or lose, even if it meant self-destruction, this was the time to strike.
“Three. It’s over.”
Whoooosh!!!
Christian emptied his mind.
With the resolve to truly erase Edrinne’s soul and die alongside her, he swung his sword.
Just as Andril was about to pierce the core of Edrinne’s soul—
A low, subdued voice stopped him.
[…Enough.]
Christian stared blankly at the demon.
[Arrogant… You. As you said, I will withdraw this time.]
The demon’s aura began to fade.
It was really leaving Edrinne!
[But don’t rejoice. This is only a reprieve.]
Christian smirked.
“You talk too much for someone who claims to be so great. Shut up like a defeated third-rate villain, and if you’re leaving, then just go.”
[!!]
How dare he mock the great one?
The demon radiated fury, but Christian remained indifferent.
‘Being polite won’t get me any favors anyway.’
The great one warned.
[…Prepare yourself. Both this child and you will ultimately become tools of our Gehenna and play the lead roles in destruction.]
“You’re the ones who should prepare. As long as I’m here, things won’t go your way.”
[!!]
Christian’s refusal to yield caused the surrounding space to tremble as if grinding teeth.
But the demon didn’t act and vanished.
Silence fell.
‘Phew.’
Christian let out a low sigh.
Thankfully, it had gone well.
‘Or did it really?’
Then, a trembling voice echoed.
“Why did you do something so reckless?!”
Edrinne’s consciousness appeared.
“Even if you do this, I can never be freed from that demon.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Christian looked around.
Edrinne’s mental world was still mostly tainted by the demon’s aura.
Only a tiny part belonged to Christian’s darkness.
In other words, though the demon had temporarily left, her soul was still firmly in its grasp.
—It’s only a reprieve.
‘The moment I lose control over Edrinne’s soul, it’s over.’
The demon had retreated because Christian could use his soul dominion to destroy Edrinne’s soul through Andril.
But the control Christian had was weak and unstable.
The ‘shortcut’ dominion he gained would gradually, little by little, revert to the rightful ‘contractor’—the demon—and then it would descend upon Edrinne again.
“Then just kill me now! It’s not too late!”
Edrinne pleaded desperately.
“No.”
“You?”
Edrinne’s eyes wavered.
“Why are you doing this for me?”
“……”
Christian was silent for a moment.
‘…I think she’s misunderstanding something.’
The biggest reason Christian wanted to save Edrinne was to use her as a pawn.
Edrinne had the potential to be an even bigger pawn than Evan.
‘In terms of potential, power, and sheer foolishness, she’s the best.’
Especially considering the coming apocalypse, she was a pawn he absolutely couldn’t afford to lose.
And above all—
“I won’t let you fall to the demon. Trust me.”
“!!”
That was a vow.
‘I have to stand against Gehenna anyway.’
If he couldn’t even save her, there was no way he could save the world.
That was the resolve he had steeled himself with, so why—
Tears streamed down Edrinne’s eyes.
As if moved.
‘…Uh, that’s not what I meant.’
It seemed the misunderstanding was only growing.
Christian hurried to clarify.
“Don’t worry about it. You’re my pa—friend. I mean, as a friend, I’ll repay you.”
Edrinne wiped her eyes and nodded firmly.
“I understand. I will repay your kindness. Tenfold… no, a hundredfold, a thousandfold… no, even more.”
She composed herself and spoke cautiously.
“But I have one question.”
“What is it?”
“…Are we still the dearest of friends?”
Edrinne asked, glancing nervously.
Christian looked bewildered.
So Ria and Edrinne were both idiots in their own way.
“Dearest friends? No, we’re not.”
“Ah, no?”
Edrinne’s perfect features crumpled as if the sky was falling.
“D-Don’t lie! I know how you feel about me!”
“Think whatever you want. This isn’t elementary school.”
“You’re so mean!!”
Edrinne shouted resolutely.
“I’ll repay your kindness from before a thousand times over! I’ll show you my kind and wonderful self so you’ll admit I’m your dearest!”
Christian chuckled.
“Alright, alright. Do your best. I’m off now. You should rest too.”
Edrinne’s soul was pushed to its limit from being dominated and abused by the demon.
Her consciousness began to fade.
“Be… prepared… when… I… wake… I’ll make you my… dearest…”
“……”
Christian frowned at her stubbornness even as she lost consciousness.
‘That looks strangely familiar.’
Though the method was different, there was another fool of similar caliber.
Whoosh!
Christian’s consciousness snapped back to reality.
When he came to, Evan’s face was right there.
That guy. A fool on par with Edrinne.
After enduring Edrinne’s mental assault, seeing Evan first thing gave him a headache.
“Christian.”
“…Stop.”
“…Huh?”
“I know what you’re going to say. Don’t.”
Christian blocked Evan’s mental attack at its root.
But Evan’s foolishness was even stronger than expected.
“You’re shy, huh? Trying to sacrifice yourself for the world again. Anyway, I get it. I’ll pretend I don’t know. But don’t worry. I’ll remember your noble heart.”
“……”
‘Just get rid of that third eye of yours, you idiot.’
Evan’s eyes were going more and more off-kilter.
“…Anyway, let’s go.”
Christian looked down toward the ruins.
It was time to claim the original goal—the Life Vessels.
There were fifteen Life Vessels in the ruins.
As explained earlier, the higher the lich’s rank, the purer the death energy required, so the Life Vessels of the twelve legion commanders and other high-ranking liches were concentrated here.
‘Alright.’
After finishing, Lanya and Evan returned to the alliance.
“Thanks.”
Christian sincerely expressed his gratitude before parting.
Evan nodded curtly, as if to say it was nothing, and Lanya lifted her chin arrogantly.
“Finally, you admit it. The greatness of this genius mage! If you want to thank someone…”
“No, I was thanking Evan. You didn’t really do much, did you?”
“Hmph. No use pretending otherwise. I know you’re already impressed with me.”
Lanya wore a look that said she wouldn’t listen to anything else—she was simply the best.
“Christian, understand this. Lanya is a bit young and immature. Lanya, learn from Christian.”
“No way! Evan oppa? Shut up! You’re the most annoying!”
Lanya pouted, and Christian chuckled.
‘Lanya is definitely brighter now. She hasn’t gone through “that” yet.’
Soon enough.
Lanya would face a terrible ordeal.
Her whole world would collapse.
Unfortunately, there was no way to stop it.
It was already too late.
‘The least I can do is minimize the fallout so she doesn’t break.’
Afterward, the two returned to the alliance, and Christian brought all the Life Vessels to the Dark League’s camp.
He immediately shattered three of them.
‘For now, let’s take down three.’
Chris whistled.
Though unseen, somewhere deep within the fortress of the Four Kings, three liches had surely met their untimely end.
“Why not just destroy them all at once?” Count Kazar asked, puzzled.
“That wouldn’t be any fun,” Chris grinned.
“Please tell the Four Kings this: from now on, I’ll be smashing one Life Vessel a day.”
The Four Kings were furious beyond measure.
But with their hostage held captive, they were powerless to act.
True to his word, Chris leisurely shattered one Life Vessel each day.
‘Whose is this one? Eh, doesn’t really matter.’
Crack!
After breaking six Life Vessels in total, a messenger from the Four Kings arrived.
“Stop immediately.”
‘A big shot has arrived.’
Chris whistled again.
One of the Four Kings—the top-tier arch-liches who stood at the pinnacle of the Magar command—had come in person.
“The ‘Silent Slayer,’ infamous for never sitting still, has graced us with his presence. Impressive. What brings you here?” Chris smirked.
The ‘Silent Slayer,’ Linot, spoke in a chilling tone.
[Cease your atrocities at once.]
“What are you talking about?”
[Are you really asking that? Consider this your warning: hand over the Life Vessels immediately, or else…]
“Hold on. That tone’s a bit too cocky.”
Chris sneered.
“You might want to try being a little more polite.”