Chapter 360
“Archduke Christian of the Dark League, come out at once!”
But there was no response—only silence.
The maids who had accompanied Drenne glanced nervously at her, then raised their voices even louder.
“Come out immediately!”
At the booming shout, the door of the mansion inside the stronghold creaked open.
But it wasn’t Christian who appeared.
Instead, a beautiful girl with blood-red hair fixed Drenne with a cold glare.
“Idrinne?”
Drenne frowned.
“You’ve lost your mind. To openly collude with the Dark League as a minor lord of the Four Kings’ Castle?”
“Better than being a lapdog for the Mystic Maga.”
“!!”
“Besides, I thought our Four Kings’ Castle’s alliance with the Dark League was by His Majesty the Demon King’s orders?”
This was a far cry from the friend-foolish Christian Drenne knew.
But this was the real Idrinne.
Though a minority faction, she was one of the lords leading the Four Kings’ Castle’s power.
“Step aside. I have business with Christian.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“What?”
“Archduke Christian is currently occupied with important matters. He has no reason to meet a rogue like you who shows up unannounced.”
The situation was infuriating.
At that moment, Drenne suddenly realized something.
‘Of course, it’s Christian who’s meddling with the Silver Snow Demon King’s seal.’
He was definitely up to some scheme.
Otherwise, Idrinne wouldn’t be so stubborn.
“I said I must see Christian. Step aside now, or my holy sword will show you no mercy.”
Clang!
Drenne summoned a massive greatsword from thin air.
Her epithet was Death’s Paladin.
She had mastered the art of soul swordsmanship to its extreme.
Her power, combined with the head of the Cursed Maga’s original spirit, rivaled the second-in-command of the Four Kings’ Castle.
But Idrinne didn’t back down.
“I told you, a rogue like you doesn’t deserve to see my friend.”
Idrinne drew her sword as well—a slender rapier.
She was also an absolute ruler of the Four Kings’ Castle.
In terms of notoriety, she was even worse than Drenne.
For reference, Idrinne was the one who had shed the most blood in the Four Kings’ Castle and was one of the most feared among its maids.
Ssshhh—
The air around the two absolute powers seemed to scream.
Just as a massive conflict was about to erupt, a weary voice cut through the tension.
“Ugh, I’m dying from this hangover. What’s all the commotion about?”
The tired voice belonged to Christian, who appeared scratching his head with a deeply furrowed brow.
“Vice Lord Drenne? What’s going on all of a sudden?”
“……”
Drenne fell silent.
Far from scheming at the seal, he looked unmistakably hungover.
It didn’t seem like an act. With her keen insight, she could tell he was thoroughly soaked in alcohol.
‘…Is it really not his doing?’
Still, she couldn’t back down easily.
“You really don’t know why I’m here?”
“Then do you? I doubt you came just to have a drink with me. If you have business, say it quickly and leave. I’m exhausted from this hangover.”
Christian let out a pointed yawn.
‘This damn guy.’
Anger surged within Drenne.
If it were up to her, she’d make him kneel, cut off each finger, and flay him alive until he confessed every sin, guilty or not—but as she’d said before, now was not the time.
“…Remember this. There’s a limit to how much I’ll tolerate your reckless behavior.”
In the end, Drenne had no choice but to leave behind a warning that felt ineffective and turn away.
Christian yawned again, stretching out lazily.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, why?”
“How many days have you been suffering after just one drink? From now on, no more alcohol. By the name of friendship, you’re banned from drinking.”
“…Who gave you that right?”
Christian smirked.
But the hangover was killing him, so he had no comeback.
‘I only had one drink to fool the Four Kings’ Castle guys, but why is it this hard?’
Christian sighed deeply.
‘Well, anyway, this operation is almost at its end.’
Just then, a faint spiritual voice whispered in his ear.
[That bonehead’s dozing off again. Now’s our chance!]
It was the voice of the Silver Snow Demon King!
Amazingly, she was communicating with Christian even while trapped in the seal.
‘Since the Silver Snow Demon King is now my subordinate, we can communicate at this distance.’
That was why Christian could tamper with the seal even while holding a drinking party here.
The Silver Snow Demon King was a powerful transcendent among the nine stars.
Through her, even while sealed, it was possible to faintly manipulate the surrounding energy.
Of course, it was so weak as to be almost meaningless, but with Christian’s help, things changed.
They were gradually damaging the seal.
‘This little tinkering won’t break the seal outright.’
Breaking the seal wasn’t the goal.
It was to draw the Four Kings’ Castle’s attention toward the Silver Snow Demon King.
‘Time to make a move.’
Christian’s gaze darkened.
Everything was ready.
He sent a voice to the Silver Snow Demon King.
‘Can you do as I said?’
[Of course! I am great and magnificent, so anything is possible! Ah, such a magnificent me—why does no one love me?]
‘…If we bring down the Four Kings’ Castle, I’ll introduce you to a man.’
[I don’t want introductions! I’m all about “natural love”!]
‘…What’s that?’
[“Natural love” means falling in love romantically and naturally with someone nearby… Damn, now that I think about it, you’re the only man I know. How am I supposed to stop being a lifelong singleton?]
‘…Enough. Let’s get to work.’
This Demon King was really noisy!
Christian shook his head and continued.
‘I’ll remotely send you my energy. Use it to damage the seal as much as possible.’
An incredible plan.
Over the past few days, Christian hadn’t just been damaging the seal—he’d been secretly tampering with the seal’s magic circuits.
He’d created a faint vulnerability in the seal’s defenses, allowing him to send his energy remotely just once.
Naturally, only a tiny amount of energy could be transmitted.
Most of it would dissipate into the air during transmission.
But that was fine.
Because it was the Silver Snow Demon King.
Despite her frivolous personality, her epithet was the Greatest Sword of the Continent.
No matter how faint the energy, once it was in her hands, it became a terrifying instrument of destruction.
‘Here goes.’
A brilliant flash.
Dark magic surged through the soul contract, flowing toward his subordinate.
In an instant, their visions overlapped.
[Watch closely.]
The Silver Snow Demon King raised her hand.
[This is my great sword.]
…Was it just Christian’s imagination, or did she strike a pose just to show off?
Regardless, her hand moved.
Destruction flashed.
Rumble—
The Tower of the Four Kings shook as if an earthquake had struck.
‘What?!’
Sensing disaster, Drenne sprang to her feet.
Sure enough, urgent news came through immediately.
—It’s serious, Vice Lord! The Silver Snow Demon King has attacked the seal! We must contain it immediately!
“!!”
How?
Before she could question further, she rushed to the seal.
A massive crack had formed.
“Explain the situation clearly.”
[We don’t know. She suddenly opened her eyes and struck with her hand sword.]
Drenne bit her lip hard.
As an 8-star Archlich, it was infuriatingly incompetent not to notice what was happening right before her eyes—but this was no time for anger.
‘We have to repair the seal.’
A crack this big could cause the seal to collapse.
The problem was that the seal had been created by the combined power of the Four Kings’ Lord and the Original Spirit.
She couldn’t handle it alone.
‘Should I call the Lord and the Original Spirit?’
But she shook her head.
Summoning them now would be admitting her own weakness.
Especially to the Original Spirit, her rival and enemy—she didn’t want to show any weakness.
Not now, with the “Vice Lord” title up for grabs soon.
“Summon the ‘Sage’ and the ‘Sculptor.’”
The Sage of Death.
The Sculptor of Despair.
Both were masters of black magic from the Four Kings and the Three Flames.
Together with Drenne, they could repair the seal.
But then, more urgent news arrived.
“Vice Lord, Christian has made a move!”
“What?”
“He left the stronghold and entered the back alleys of District 4.”
“Why there?”
Drenne’s face went pale.
‘Could it be he’s targeting the Obelisk control room connected to District 4?’
Compared to other prestigious magic families, the Soul and Curse Magas had overwhelmingly more high-ranking maids.
There were two reasons for this: the Soul Maga’s lich’s secret arts, and the Obelisks.
Obelisks were magical devices that absorbed people’s negative emotions.
For the Soul and Curse Magas, negative emotions were the ultimate elixir.
So they gathered all the humans in their territory into one place and deliberately ruled harshly.
The more people suffered, the more negative energy they could harvest.
District 4 was home to many impoverished residents and was densely packed with Obelisks.
‘Damn it, of all times…’
Normally, she would have welcomed this with open arms.
She’d been waiting for a chance to strike him.
Especially in District 4, it was the perfect place to make someone disappear without leaving a trace—no one would ever know what happened.
But the timing was suspicious.
“No, it’s not just suspicious. He’s the one who orchestrated this entire situation.”
Drenne clenched his fists tightly.
“I have to be the one to take his life.”
He refused to let anyone else kill that bastard.
He wanted to see that arrogant face twisted in pain as he died.
“But the seal…”
To rebuild the seal, they needed the help of someone who had reached at least the rank of 8-star Supreme.
Then, something shifted within the seal.
A flash.
The Demon Lord within Eunseol’s seal opened his eyes.
“!!”
A chill ran down Drenne’s spine.
Their eyes met for a brief moment before the Demon Lord slipped back into dormancy.
But in that instant, Drenne felt a terror as deep as falling into an abyss.
“…As expected, a Demon Lord is a Demon Lord. The seal comes first.”
If the Demon Lord were to break free, a catastrophe far worse than anything Christian could cause would unfold.
Especially now, with the Four Kings absent, there was no way to handle it.
[Leave that bastard Christian to me.]
Archlich Rockfelt spoke coldly.
Drenne hesitated for a moment.
“Rockfelt should be enough.”
Rockfelt was an 8-star.
More than capable of handling the bastard.
“During the war, he was at 8-star Advanced. Even for him, only a few months have passed since the war ended, so he probably hasn’t grown much.”
At best, 8-star Basic.
Even considering how unrealistically monstrous he was, he likely hadn’t reached mid-8-star yet.
Still, Drenne couldn’t shake his unease.
“Rockfelt, call in the Assassin of Silence and the Jester of the Abyss as well.”
The Assassin of Silence.
The Jester of the Abyss.
Other Four Kings and the Three Flames.
He intended to mobilize three of the highest-ranking 8-star demons, including Rockfelt.
[You want the three of us to attack together? Against such a rookie?]
Rockfelt growled, his pride wounded.
But Drenne raised the stakes.
Frowning in thought, he said,
“No, in addition to you three, have the Sculptor join us.”
[!!]
Four top-tier demons!
That was more than half of the Seven Four Kings and Three Flames.