Chapter 370
As they finally escaped the mansion, the entire building came crashing down with a thunderous roar.
First, Chris struggled free from Idrene’s embrace and landed on the ground.
“…You’re out now, so get down.”
“I’m fine! You shouldn’t push yourself when you’re not well! What’s the point of friendship if you don’t take care of yourself? Just rest comfortably—I’m perfectly fine!”
‘I’m anything but fine!’
Chris had no choice but to come down, while Idrene wore a look of disappointment.
“This was a perfect chance to strengthen our friendship. Such a shame.”
“…Yeah, right. What a load of crap.”
‘Is he doing this on purpose?’
Chris had always thought him a fool, but now a strange suspicion flickered through his mind.
“Girl, stop being so stubborn. Anyway, now that the wraith is captured, what’s the plan?”
At Robinson’s question, Chris shook off his distractions.
“I need to finish what I started.”
“Finish what?”
Chris answered as if it were obvious.
“It’s time to erase the Cursed Maga.”
The battle against the Cursed Maga was being led by the Blood Sword Maga, Berling, the Bloody Lady.
When Chris and his group joined the fight, the tide shifted completely in their favor.
Especially after the wraith’s defeat, the cursed Maga’s minions lost all will to fight.
Soon, the regular true-blooded Maga warriors of the Blood Sword Maga joined in, turning the battle into a one-sided massacre.
“Don’t let a single one escape!”
Normally, Chris wouldn’t punish the innocent, but the cursed Maga were beyond redemption.
Their entire clan was a gathering of monstrous villains.
How much time had passed?
All the notorious figures of the cursed Maga were dead.
More than half of the regular minions were slain, and most of those who surrendered had their cores sealed—effectively a clan-wide annihilation.
“Enough. Stop.”
A heavy presence pressed down on the battlefield.
Everyone present felt a chill run down their spines.
The aura was as intense as the life-or-death duel they had just witnessed with the wraith.
Turning their gaze, they saw a Bone Dragon hovering in midair.
Atop it stood a woman of noble bearing, wielding a holy sword radiating death.
It was Drenne, the deputy lord of the Death Maga.
“Do you intend to interfere in the sacred life-or-death duel recognized by imperial law between noble houses?”
“Silence. As the future deputy lord of the Four Kings Castle, I will no longer tolerate this. Cease at once.”
At her warning, all the Blood Sword Maga warriors looked toward Christian.
“Fighting Drenne now is impossible. Everyone’s exhausted.”
Robinson spoke with a troubled tone.
He wasn’t wrong.
They were all drained.
‘Idrene, Robinson, and I have used up most of our strength battling the wraith.’
Besides, Drenne was an overwhelmingly powerful foe, rivaling the wraith.
‘Objectively, the wraith is stronger, but Drenne is no pushover.’
Chris knew Drenne well.
Unlike the wraith, she had survived for a long time on the side of the Bloody Demon King during the Age of Destruction, earning a terrible reputation among the alliance.
She had even risen above the nine-star Demon Kings.
Her title then was the “Holy Cruel Demon King.”
‘Though Evan eventually killed her, she gave him a hell of a fight.’
In her current weakened state, it was impossible to defeat her.
But then Idrene whispered something unexpected.
“Wouldn’t it be better to risk everything and kill Drenne here and now?”
Idrene said coldly.
“If we don’t kill her now, the consequences could be uncontrollable.”
Chris understood what she meant.
‘Idrene knows about Drenne’s unique powers.’
Drenne’s current title was “Death Paladin.”
It didn’t suit a mere minion; it was tied to her abilities.
Though a minion, Drenne wielded the stellar power of the constellations.
More precisely, the power of the Fallen Stars.
Uniquely, she hadn’t made a pact with a demon but with the Fallen Stars.
Because of this, her necromancy was completely different from other Death Maga minions.
‘With the power of the Fallen Stars, she can create undead that retain the exact traits of their former lives.’
But that wasn’t all.
Through a special soul-calming ritual using the power of the constellations, she could absorb part of the strength of the dead.
‘The scariest part is that she can even absorb fragments of the dead’s enlightenment.’
That was how Drenne, despite her youth, had reached the very edge of eight stars.
In other words, the countless dead from the cursed Maga’s massacre were like a grand banquet of fortune for Drenne.
‘No wonder she agreed to my plan so readily.’
She had appeared only now, after most of the work was done, hoping as many as possible would die.
Of course, Drenne’s powers weren’t invincible.
Her absorption of energy through the soul-calming ritual wasn’t as efficient as a human sacrifice.
But there were so many dead.
If she absorbed energy from even half of those fallen here, her power would instantly surpass the wraith’s.
‘She’d reach at least the threshold of nine-star true form.’
What was most terrifying was her ability to absorb enlightenment.
Though limited—she only took fragments like wandering thoughts, not full enlightenment—and if she couldn’t process it, it was useless.
The problem was that Drenne herself was an incomparable five-star talent.
She was barely forty years old but had already reached the peak of eight stars.
Chris’s arrival had somewhat overshadowed this, but it was the fastest achievement in the entire Mage Empire.
No matter how special her powers, without talent, it would have been impossible.
‘If Drenne manages to absorb even a fraction of the wraith’s enlightenment, she’ll become insanely powerful.’
In the worst case, she might even step into nine-star true form.
“Christian, you have to duel Drenne in a week’s time for the deputy lord contest, right? Better to kill her now while you can.”
Chris chuckled softly.
Idrene was worried he might be killed by Drenne in the upcoming duel.
‘There’s no chance if I fight Drenne now.’
Even if she didn’t grow stronger, it would be impossible.
He had struggled one-on-one with the wraith this time.
If Drenne grew stronger here, defeat was certain.
Mahwi was around, but with many restrictions, he couldn’t be used easily.
“No, I won’t fight Drenne today. It’s too risky. We’ll retreat.”
If a fight broke out with Drenne, the Death Maga minions wouldn’t just stand by.
This time, it would be our side wiped out.
“But—”
“It’s fine. Trust me.”
“!!”
He meant he wouldn’t lose to Drenne in the duel.
Idrene bit her lip, eyes still filled with worry.
No matter how great Chris was, only a week remained.
But Chris’s resolve didn’t waver.
“We’ll withdraw.”
“Good. Wise decision. We’ll handle the cleanup from the Death Maga side. Leave immediately.”
They were being told to leave so the Death Maga could deal with the cursed Maga as they saw fit.
‘Of all things, falling into the hands of the Death Maga. The cursed Maga might as well be dead. No, even death won’t help.’
Once caught by the Death Maga’s claws, there was no rest.
The dead would become undead or have their souls trapped as Deaths.
The survivors’ fate wasn’t much better.
No one would treat the weakened kindly.
From now on, the cursed Maga minions would be little more than slaves to the Death Maga.
With that, the Blood Sword Maga minions withdrew.
Just as Chris was about to leave, Drenne spoke.
Her eyes gleaming with greed.
“Take good care of yourself. Soon, everything you have will belong to me.”
She meant to turn Chris into an undead after their duel.
Drenne’s specialty was creating undead that preserved their former selves perfectly.
I’d heard these special undead had limits on their numbers, but Chris was clearly a prized target.
Chris smirked.
“Seems we have more in common than I thought.”
“What?”
“I was thinking of turning you into an undead too. Someone like you would be worth commanding.”
“!!”
Chris chuckled again.
“See you in a week. Let’s find out who becomes whose undead.”
Afterward, they returned to the Blood Sword Maga.
Though victorious, the mood was grim.
The deputy lord contest was only a week away.
News came that, as expected, Drenne was absorbing the death energy from the cursed Maga’s corpses.
Chris’s chances of defeating her were slim to none, and now it seemed he might be wiped out entirely.
“Isn’t it time to return to the Dark Alliance, Your Highness? The Four Kings Castle will never threaten the Dark Alliance again.”
“Yes, we’ve done enough. The clan heads are worried.”
“If something happens to Your Highness, none of us will be safe!”
Kashmir, Marisa, and Alos spoke anxiously.
“In that case, I’ll enter the deputy lord contest myself! I’ll be the first to weaken Drenne’s power.”
“I’ll help too. Your Highness is our clan’s benefactor.”
“No, why us?”
“You just shut up.”
“Father, please be quiet.”
Idrene and Berling spoke firmly.
Robinson tried to intervene but only earned scorn.
“Don’t worry. We just have to win.”
“…So how exactly are we supposed to win? Drenne is only going to get stronger than the Wraith now.”
Idrinne spoke again, her voice firm.
“It’s not too late! We can still strike Drenne! He’s probably wrapping up the soul-summoning ritual right now. If we can come up with some underhanded trick and catch him off guard, we might be able to take him out!”
“…Forget that. I just need to get stronger before the duel.”
“Do you realize there’s less than a week left until the duel?”
“Yeah. So what?”
Everyone looked at Chris, speechless.
No one doubted how incredible Chris was. Throughout history, there had never been anyone quite like him.
But even so, it seemed impossible.
“Maybe this time, Drenne will step into the Nine-Star Realm.”
“That’s possible.”
Chris didn’t deny it.
In fact, he had to accept it as almost certain.
In his previous life, when the Wraith was killed by the Bloodthirsty Demon King, Drenne had absorbed the Wraith’s enlightenment through the soul-summoning ritual and reached the Nine-Star Realm.
‘Even if he doesn’t fully reach the Nine-Star Realm, he’ll at least have one foot in it.’