Chapter 341
‘My reason for going to the Kanefer Training Grounds is partly to bring the Round Table and the Celestial Magic Tower to heel.’
To subjugate.
It meant he was plotting something big again.
In any case, Chris planned to ‘perfect’ the power of light during this trip to Kanefer.
“Heh heh, impressive. Absurd, really.”
The Archmage Prime looked at him with amused eyes.
“But it’s just as I expected. Honestly, if you’d asked for my help, I might have been a little disappointed. If you’re my blood, you should be able to do at least this much.”
The Archmage Prime grinned.
“The more I see you, the more I like you.”
Chris slowly raised his glass.
A smooth liquid slid down his throat, and a heavenly sensation washed over him.
He wanted to drop everything, pack it all away, and just enjoy himself—but this wasn’t the time to indulge.
There was something he needed to ask.
“…Have you recently taken a nine-tailed fox as a subordinate?”
It was the Dark Gossip’s story.
The Archmage Prime looked at Chris quietly and nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
A brief confirmation.
Chris had suspected as much.
The dark magic the Dark Gossip used could only have come from the Archmage Prime.
But what really piqued his curiosity was something else.
‘Should I ask?’
Hesitating, Chris was met with the Archmage Prime’s smile.
“Is there something you want to know about that nine-tailed fox? If so, ask away.”
“…Why did you take that nine-tailed fox as your subordinate?”
The Archmage Prime gave an unexpected answer.
“It wasn’t my will.”
“…It wasn’t your will?”
“Yeah, that nine-tailed fox came to me first. Asked me to make her a subordinate. She swore by the name of His Majesty the Demon Emperor—it’s true.”
Chris’s face showed disbelief.
Why would Rena—
“…Do you know where that nine-tailed fox is now?”
“Hmm? I don’t know.”
A lie.
Chris sensed it, but the Archmage Prime seemed unwilling to continue the conversation and stood up.
“Well, that’s enough talk for now. Shall we get going? There’s someone who wants to see you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
The Archmage Prime smiled slyly and dropped an unexpected name.
“Her Majesty the Empress wants to see you.”
Chris’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘The Empress wants to see me?’
It was a name he never expected to hear.
No one in the Mage Empire truly knew who the Empress was.
She wasn’t simply the Demon Emperor’s consort.
The Demon Emperor was said to be a perfect being alone, with no consort.
Where she came from.
What powers she held.
What the title ‘Empress’ truly meant.
All unknown.
Lately, some even doubted whether the Empress existed at all.
“Go in alone.”
A massive door opened.
Chris entered with a serious expression and faced a figure inside.
“!!”
A small-framed girl.
She wore a mask covering more than half her face.
Beneath the mask, faint lines revealed a youthful appearance.
‘Is that girl the Empress?’
It was an unexpected sight.
Not only did she look fragile, but she gave off no sense of intimidation.
‘It’s not just that she’s suppressing her aura. I can’t sense her presence at all.’
It was incomprehensible.
Every Demon Lord Chris had met radiated a powerful presence that crushed the soul.
Whether they flaunted their power or not, their very existence was overwhelming.
But this girl seemed empty.
Not just weak presence—no presence at all.
He could see her with his eyes, yet it felt as if she didn’t truly exist.
‘But why does she feel so familiar?’
An unexplainable sense of déjà vu washed over him.
At that moment, Chris held his breath.
Their eyes met.
The déjà vu intensified.
It was a gaze he had seen before.
A familiar one.
‘No way.’
Chris swallowed hard at the thought.
But he couldn’t accept it easily.
It was too absurd.
He knelt and bowed respectfully.
“Your Majesty the Empress, I am Christian of the Dark Mage Clan.”
[…….]
The eyes beneath the mask turned toward Chris.
Empty.
A gaze completely unlike the person Chris had in mind.
Yet, for some reason, one person kept coming to his mind.
“…I am here by your command. Please give me your orders.”
But the Empress showed an incomprehensible expression.
She must have summoned him for a reason, yet she said nothing.
She just stared at Chris.
Unable to grasp her intent, Chris furrowed his brow.
Suddenly—
Flash!
Instinctively, Chris twisted his body as a surge of danger rose.
Scratch.
The floor beneath his knees cracked open.
He turned his head in surprise.
“Your Majesty the Empress?”
He asked, bewildered, but she remained silent.
A chill ran down his spine as he tilted his head—and a lock of his hair was sliced off.
If he had been a moment slower, his neck would have been severed.
“…Please tell me what crime I have committed to deserve this.”
Chris drew his sword.
[You have committed no crime.]
The Empress finally spoke.
Her voice echoed in his mind, a spiritual presence impossible to identify.
[Raise your sword. If you can cut even a single thread of my robe, I will cease my attack.]
Chris frowned.
‘What is she trying to do?’
He couldn’t understand the situation.
It didn’t seem like she intended to harm him.
If she truly wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t stand a chance.
The attack she had just launched was precisely calibrated to his level.
‘Is she testing me?’
Chris pointed his sword.
Not a bad idea.
He had something he wanted to do anyway.
‘I’ll take that mask off her.’
He needed to see the face beneath it.
Since she said to try cutting her robe, cutting the mask should be allowed.
Another attack came.
Chris relied on instinct and twisted his body.
Scratch. The floor, walls, and pillars were ruthlessly sliced.
A strange attack.
Not magic.
‘Is this spiritual power?’
Chris’s face showed surprise as he realized the nature of the Empress’s attack.
Soul power.
The force used by demons and celestial beings.
‘How can a mortal wield spiritual power?’
It wasn’t just a matter of spiritual rank.
The innate size of the soul was different; no matter how much a mortal raised their spiritual rank, it was difficult to use spiritual power as a force.
Chris was the same.
But the Empress wielded spiritual power as if a demon or celestial had descended, using it like an extension of her limbs.
‘Is it really possible for a pure human to use spiritual power like this?’
Chris raised Andril to block the Empress’s attack.
No other sword could block her spiritual power.
Even defending with dark magic only resulted in it being sliced like paper.
The Empress was careful with her strikes, but even that was becoming difficult to handle.
Whoosh!
The intensity of the attacks increased.
Each moment brought a dizzying crisis.
‘I can’t hold out long. I have to end this quickly.’
Chris summoned his own spiritual power.
Different from magic or mana, it was pure soul energy.
Compared to the Empress’s spiritual power, reminiscent of demons and celestials, his was insignificant.
But it was the only way to block her attacks.
Slash!
The Empress’s spiritual power cut through Chris’s.
Cracks spread like shattered glass, and his soul felt like it was being tossed about violently—but Chris held firm.
‘Just a moment longer.’
Flash!
Chris vanished and reappeared right in front of the Empress.
His heart pounded wildly as the déjà vu surged.
It was the feeling of ‘her’ he knew.
He had to confirm.
But the Empress didn’t stay still.
She gave a subtle signal from beneath her mask, and a storm of spiritual power surged toward Chris.
If he didn’t dodge immediately, his soul would be torn apart.
But Chris didn’t back down.
He gritted his teeth and unleashed dark magic.
His domain of domination, the Seven-Colored Sovereignty, flared, amplifying all his power.
His spiritual power surged in response.
‘This is my one chance.’
He raised Andril and swung downward.
But as the Empress raised her hand, an invisible barrier blocked Andril.
It was a futile block, but expected.
Chris clenched his fist and summoned all his strength.
He even used the Vampiric Ring.
As his level rose, the ring’s effect strengthened, allowing him to absorb the energy of others nearby.
Of course, absorbing others’ energy like this strains the vessel greatly, so it was a last-resort move—but there was no time to hesitate.
A massive surge of energy concentrated in Andril.
Fwoosh!
The barrier the Empress had raised split like water parting.
But that was all.
Thud.
The Empress raised her hand, and Andril was effortlessly stopped.
It was over.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Click.
A crack began to form on the mask the Empress wore.
A pinpoint crack.
Chris’s secret technique, which guaranteed a hit, had worked!
‘No, it didn’t work. The Empress didn’t block it.’
The moment Chris saw the crack, he sensed failure.
If the Empress had wanted to block it, she could have.
But inexplicably, she didn’t.
As if she wanted him to remove the mask.
The crack spread.
‘Could it be?’
Chris swallowed hard.
And then—
Thud.
The mask fell downward, and a shock like his heart stopping hit him.
It was the face he expected.
The girl he had seen not long ago.
A face identical to Mari’s.
“…Why?”
Chris said, stunned.
The girl who looked exactly like Mari—Mahu—said nothing. She just stared at him quietly.
Her gaze was strange. Yet somehow familiar.
Chris spoke in a strained voice.
“…What’s your relationship to Mari?”
Mahu tilted her head slightly.
[Who is Mari? The girl you said recently looks like me? I’m not her.]
Her voice carried genuine confusion.
Chris bit his lip tightly.
Mahu gave him a cryptic look, then spoke softly.
[I called you here because there’s something I need to say.]
“…What is it?”
[Kill me.]
“!!”
Chris flinched.
“…What do you mean by that?”
Mahu’s eyes remained indifferent.
[Aren’t you trying to stop the Demon King’s will?]
Chris pictured the Garden of Flames.
He realized Mahu had deliberately shown it to him.
[There’s no time for long explanations. If you want to stop the Demon King’s will, there’s only one way.]
Her empty eyes held his.
[You have to kill me. No matter what it takes.]
* * *
Before he could ask anything more, Mahu vanished.
Chris stood there, stunned, and stepped outside. Just then, the Mage Chancellor approached with a sly smile.
“So? How did the audience go? Any special news?”
“…….”
Chris pressed his lips shut, studying the Chancellor’s inscrutable expression.
A smile that gave nothing away.