Chapter 392
The priests didn’t believe a word Chris said.
But that didn’t mean they could just lay a hand on him—there was a reason for that.
“Rejecting someone who wants to join the order goes against our doctrine.”
Chris had learned this when he absorbed Sherard through gluttony.
The Mystical Maga were a religious group, deeply obsessed with their dogma.
“Of course, they probably think they can subdue me anytime, so for now, they’re just watching.”
Anyway, the Mystical Maga wouldn’t kill him outright. They intended to use him as a sacrifice.
The high priests kept a tight watch around Chris to prevent him from causing any trouble.
“Aren’t you being a bit too stiff? Soon enough, we’ll be brothers in faith.”
[…Silence.]
“You should watch your mouth. Soon, I’ll be your superior.”
Chris flicked his finger with a smirk.
“If I join your order, I’ll at least become a Great Apostle. That means I’ll be above all others.”
Everyone in the Mystical Maga looked utterly baffled by his claim.
[We have no idea what you’re thinking. Such behavior in our sacred domain… but it doesn’t matter.]
The Apostle’s gaze turned icy as he stared at Chris.
[Once you meet His Excellency, your little schemes will come to an end.]
He was referring to the Pope, the head of the Mystical Maga.
In their hierarchy, the Pope’s word was above doctrine.
If the Pope gave an order, Chris was finished.
[Enter.]
A portal opened.
Chilling, otherworldly instruments rippled like waves, as if leading straight to Gehenna.
Once he crossed, there’d be no turning back.
“To catch a dragon, you have to enter its lair.”
Chris steeled himself and plunged forward.
Unlike ordinary portals that simply passed through space, this one showed horrifying visions.
Massive eyes—presumed to be demonic—glared down at Chris as he passed, like a predator eyeing its prey.
The madness that seeped into his mind was enough to twist anyone’s sanity.
“Get lost!”
He banished the madness and stepped through the portal.
At the same time, agonized screams echoed.
[Ahhhhhh…]
[Please… please… just let me die…]
[Ah…]
Frowning, Chris looked around.
He was in a garden.
But the problem was, the statues decorating the garden were ‘humans.’
Or rather, things that had once been human.
They weren’t proper human forms anymore.
Facial features, hands, feet—nothing was right.
Arms were detached from shoulders and stuck to heads, eyes, noses, and mouths were all out of place, as if molded from clay by a mad sculptor.
A large spike pierced through the center of each body from below, protruding above the head, yet they were cursed with immortality, unable to die and suffering endlessly.
“Disgusting perversion.”
Chris grimaced.
[Isn’t it a beautiful sight?]
“!!”
Soft footsteps echoed.
A chill ran down Chris’s spine.
There was no oppressive aura, but an indescribable fear filled the air.
Slowly turning his head, he saw a figure he recognized from a past life.
An extreme beauty, impossible to assign a gender.
Eyes as black as pitch, like instruments forged from the abyss.
It was the Pope, the head of the Mystical Maga.
“Greetings, Your Excellency.”
Chris bowed slightly, and the Pope’s eyes gleamed with a strange light.
[I wanted to see you sooner, but I never expected you to come here on your own. What are you scheming?]
“Didn’t you already hear? I intend to join your order.”
Chris shrugged.
“There’s no point struggling. Since it’s come to this, I have to survive.”
[What a ridiculous joke. Do you think I’d believe that?]
“I swear on the names of the great demons—it’s the truth.”
He had no qualms about swearing falsely by the names of demons he wanted to kill.
The Pope fell silent for a moment.
He seemed to try reading Chris’s mind with his power, but even the Pope couldn’t pierce the heart of someone who had reached the ninth rank.
[It might be better to just ruin you so you neither live nor die, and use you as a sacrifice for our grand plan.]
“Well, that won’t be easy.”
Chris smiled slyly.
“If you try to harm me, I’ll just erase my own soul.”
[!!]
“No matter how great the Mystical Maga are, they can’t stop me from self-annihilation.”
That was Chris’s trump card.
“They can’t give up on me.”
Though they had sacrificed the Dragon King to stir the ritual, their grand plan was far from complete.
To fully break the boundaries of the Three Realms, they needed a sacrifice greater than the Dragon King.
Someone like Idrinne.
“Oh, just so you know, I won’t die alone. I’ll take Idrinne’s soul with me. You know she’s bound to me, right?”
[…]
“If both Idrinne and I vanish, your order will be in serious trouble.”
The Pope’s gaze turned cold.
[What exactly are you plotting?]
“Didn’t I say? I’m switching sides because I’m losing. If you accept me, I’ll bring Idrinne too. She’ll be a perfect sacrifice for your grand plan.”
[…]
The Pope just glared silently.
He didn’t look convinced.
Chris never expected the Mystical Maga to trust him.
They weren’t fools.
He revealed his true intention.
“If you don’t trust me, how about this? I’ll undergo the baptism ritual.”
[…What?]
The Pope’s eyes flickered.
It was inevitable.
The baptism ritual was the ceremony to offer one’s soul to a demon.
“I’ll prove my sincerity through the baptism ritual.”
Chris smirked.
The Pope accepted Chris’s proposal.
‘He probably thinks there’s no chance I’ll survive the ritual anyway.’
After all, the Mystical Maga’s goal was to offer souls to demons—they had no reason to oppose it.
Chris was led to the altar.
Just stepping onto it sent chills down his spine, standing before a terrifying magic circle.
[Are you the great vessel?]
A beautiful woman appeared behind the altar.
Chris had never seen her before, but he guessed who she was.
‘The High Priestess. The deputy head of the Mystical Maga.’
She was the second-in-command, ranked ninth.
[I don’t know your intentions, but it doesn’t matter. From today, you will become part of the great evil.]
“Wait.”
Chris raised his hand.
[Are you having second thoughts? It’s too late. Once you step here, the mark of the great ones is already on your soul…]
“No, that’s not it.”
Chris shook his head.
“I want to choose the demon to whom I’ll offer my soul.”
[!!]
“I think it’s only natural to have the right to choose the demon you serve.”
The High Priestess fell silent.
Chris was right.
Other Mystical Maga priests also chose the demons they pledged their souls to.
[…Who do you intend to choose?]
“The Devourer of Light.”
A great being of the Fourth Realm.
“We’ve communicated before. If I’m to offer my soul, it will be to that one.”
[…I see.]
“Then don’t oppose me, unless you want to incur the wrath of the great one.”
The High Priestess swallowed her unease.
She had no grounds to object.
The ‘Devourer of Light’ wasn’t a traitor opposing destruction.
[…Very well. It doesn’t matter who you belong to. You will still be a vessel for the grand plan.]
A sinister melody began to flow from the altar.
[Ascend.]
Chris took a step forward.
Without hesitation.
Though even he felt fear before what was to come, he pushed it aside.
“If I don’t fail, that’s all that matters. I won’t die before enjoying wealth and glory.”
With resolve, he declared:
“Let’s begin.”
A blazing darkness engulfed him, and his consciousness faded into oblivion.
In an instant, he regained awareness—his soul had arrived elsewhere.
A realm of instruments far more dreadful than any he had encountered before.
Gehenna.
The throne of the Great Demon.
[Are you… Christian?]
A spiritual resonance shook his soul.
Though it was merely a message, it felt like his very being was turned inside out.
Before him stood a great being of the Fourth Realm.
Chris tried to look up, but the immense pressure pinned him down, not even allowing a finger to move.
‘This is the power of a Fourth Realm being. Terrifying.’
It wasn’t his first time seeing such a being.
But before, when a Fourth Realm being descended to the surface, their powers were limited.
This was the first time he’d witnessed one fully manifesting their power from their throne.
He felt utterly insignificant.
[I’ve heard about you from Lady Mephina… pitiful. A mere mortal like you… could be our hope? Lady Mephina must have fallen from her throne and lost her sight.]
Chris gritted his teeth.
‘Now’s not the time to stand still.’
Before him stood the Great Demon, the “Devourer of Light,” who had once been a subordinate of Mephina back when she ruled the Third Realm.
In other words, the soul sacrifice happening now was part of a prearranged deal with Mephina—a carefully orchestrated bargain—but that didn’t mean Chris could let his guard down.
Demons were notorious for their fickleness.
They could turn on you at any moment.
“You can’t underestimate them.”
Drawing in a steady breath, Chris summoned his strength.
Fwoosh!
The power of the throne surged forth, pushing back the overwhelming might of the Great Demon.
Chris was no mere insignificant creature anymore.
No matter how formidable the Great Demon’s power, it was possible to resist it to some degree.
[Hmm? You’re not just some worthless insect after all. But…]
“!!”
Ka-thoom!
An even more crushing force slammed down, far beyond what Chris had faced before.
[What could the likes of you possibly do against a colossal fate?]
Crackle, crackle.
The immense pressure threatened to obliterate his very soul.
“I won’t lose!”
Fwoooosh!!
Gritting his teeth, Chris fought back with everything he had.
Simply unleashing the Genesis Descent wasn’t enough—he also drew on the power of the Holy Radiance, weaving light and darkness together in a precise, intricate dance of opposing forces.