Chapter 395

The power rooted in the Great Demon’s source, even if only a fraction of it, was incomparable to that of any mortal.

It was only natural that it overwhelmed the mortal High Priest.

Shing.

[Ughhh!]

Blood splattered as Chris sneered mockingly.

“Pathetic. Try struggling a little more.”

This was unlike his usual self.

Normally, he was obnoxious, sure, but he never inflicted pain on others just for amusement.

Yet now, he toyed with the High Priest like a cat playing with a mouse.

As if he had truly been tainted by evil.

[…Shall we continue watching?] one archbishop tentatively asked the Pope.

[If we don’t intervene? This is a duel ordained by doctrine. If we interfere, do you think the Great Demon who made a pact with him will just stand by?]

The Pope frowned deeply.

He couldn’t fathom the man’s true intentions.

The fact that he had made a pact with a Great Demon only added to the confusion.

Surely, it was impossible for him to deceive a Great Demon, so the man must have truly pledged his soul to evil.

But why?

Was he really sincere about returning to the Church, as he claimed?

The Pope couldn’t believe it.

Yet if it was a lie, why would the Great Demon of the Fourth Circle have made a pact with him?

‘It’s best to eliminate any inexplicable variables.’

Whatever schemes the man was hiding, the clearest solution was to break him completely and use him as a sacrifice for the grand plan.

‘To do that, we can’t miss this duel.’

No matter what he concealed, he was currently a vessel blessed by the Great Demon’s power.

Even the Mystical Magi couldn’t strike him without cause.

‘Should we intervene, even if it’s reckless?’

Then, suddenly, the Pope’s eyes gleamed.

He saw a turning point unfolding in the duel.

‘So he really wasn’t a Ninth Rank Monk after all. He’s hit his limit.’

Chris’s overwhelming pressure against the High Priest noticeably waned.

The power he wielded was drawn from the Great Demon’s source, but now it was beginning to falter.

No matter how magnificent the Throne was, controlling the Great Demon’s source was no easy feat—it was only natural.

[Heh heh, how dare you. You’ve been rampaging quite well so far. Now prepare yourself. I will utterly destroy you.]

The High Priest muttered coldly, bloodied and grim.

Fwoosh.

The Genesis Descent unfolded.

The Eight Hells.

Eight types of hells manifested in reality, amplifying the aura of evil.

Chris faced the Genesis Descent head-on.

The noble Throne pushed back the hellfire.

But it flickered precariously, as if it could be extinguished at any moment.

[Look forward to it. I will make you suffer every pain that exists in this world.]

Crackle.

Eight flames of hell rose beside the High Priest.

Each flame was imbued with the law of causality.

An ultimate technique designed to make the opponent writhe in the agonies of a horrific hell.

The immortal causality ensured that unless she permitted it, death was impossible.

Boom!

The flames crashed against the Throne.

Chris’s darkness met the fires of Gehenna.

The Throne trembled dangerously but barely held.

[Oh?]

The High Priest licked her lips.

[Not bad. Good. It wouldn’t be fun if you collapsed too easily. Please, entertain me even more.]

Fwoosh!

The hellfire flared again.

This time, with even greater intensity.

It carried a profound energy, like the karmic fire that could annihilate the world.

Before that dreadful karmic blaze, Chris’s Throne looked unstable.

[Now, I’m eager to see how you’ll struggle within the flames of hell.]

The karmic fire engulfed the Throne once more.

Darkness again blocked the flames, but it seemed feeble.

The High Priest smiled coldly, anticipating Chris’s screams.

Then, suddenly, something inexplicable happened.

The karmic fire split apart.

A flash of dark light flickered.

[!!]

Sensing danger, the High Priest instinctively twisted her body.

But it was useless.

Shing!

Her arm was severed, flying through the air.

[What?!]

Those watching the duel gasped in shock.

The karmic fire lost momentum and faded, revealing Chris’s figure.

His aura and presence had changed somehow.

The Pope groaned in disbelief.

[Could it be… Ninth Rank Monk?]

A faint distortion of causality shimmered around him.

A trait unique to the Ninth Rank Monk, unseen at lower levels.

[Impossible… How?]

“What do you mean how? I practiced hard.”

A ridiculous answer.

But it was true.

‘From the start, I was using him as a practice tool to manipulate causality.’

The Ninth Rank Lower and Ninth Rank Monk handled causality very differently.

The Ninth Rank Lower twisted causality within given ‘justifications.’

When Chris had pushed the Fourth Circle Great Demon recently, he had a ‘justification’—the demon had broken its oath—allowing him to manipulate causality.

But the Ninth Rank Monk could manipulate causality at will, without any justification.

A realm Chris had yet to fully reach.

‘So I used the Great Demon’s source to practice freely.’

The highest rank wasn’t just about manipulating causality—it was about being a part of the world’s causality itself.

Therefore, by wielding the power within that source, Chris could manipulate causality as he pleased.

Throughout the duel, he had pretended to pressure the High Priest while secretly practicing, finally grasping the key.

‘If I had started from scratch, I wouldn’t have learned this quickly, but having such a perfect practice tool helped immensely.’

The High Priest ground her teeth.

[Don’t get cocky. You’ve only just stepped into the Ninth Rank Monk.]

True, Chris had only just entered the Ninth Rank Monk.

The High Priest, on the other hand, was a seasoned Ninth Rank Monk.

Objectively, she had the upper hand.

“But sorry, I’ve never lost to an opponent of similar rank.”

Fwoosh!

Hell’s karmic fire and Chris’s darkness clashed in midair.

It wasn’t just a battle of will.

The causality within each fought fiercely for dominance.

Outwardly, the High Priest seemed to have the advantage.

Chris appeared barely holding on.

But then—

In the heat of the struggle, a faint gap appeared in the High Priest’s causality.

Shing.

[Argh!]

Blood splattered again from the High Priest’s body.

Chris struck without missing the opening.

This happened repeatedly.

Chris’s energy neither faltered nor yielded, enduring the High Priest’s power and seizing every small opening.

As time passed, his counterattacks grew more frequent.

His ability to manipulate causality was improving in real time.

Gradually but surely, damage accumulated.

[How is this possible?]

[Unbelievable!]

The senior priests of the Mystical Magi were unsettled.

Then, a chilling voice whispered into the Pope’s ear.

[What… are you doing? Will you just watch?]

It was the voice of the Fourth Circle Great Demon!

The one who had made a pact with the High Priest.

[Will you let him be manipulated like this? Step in… and deal with him immediately.]

But the Pope couldn’t move.

Not just because of doctrine.

Doctrine was merely a tool to serve demons; naturally, the Great Demon’s will took precedence.

The problem was that the Great Demon speaking wasn’t alone.

[Christian is my vessel. Making him the High Priest is my will. Interfere, and you will face my wrath.]

Not only the Great Demon who had made a pact with him, but others also voiced support for Christian.

[Christian is a great vessel. He should not be a sacrifice for the grand plan, but the harbinger of destruction.]

These were the Great Demons allied with the ‘Light Swallower.’

None wished for destruction.

Chris had secretly persuaded the Great Demons who shared similar intentions with the ‘Light Swallower,’ resulting in a notable number supporting him.

Though a minority among the entire Fourth Circle, it was a number that couldn’t be ignored.

‘The Great Demons are divided.’

The Pope looked troubled.

This wasn’t the first time.

Great Demons were the most selfish embodiments of evil; their opinions often clashed.

In such cases, they had to wait for the Great Demons to reach consensus.

But the problem now was that the duel was ongoing.

A decision had to be made immediately.

‘If a Third Circle rank intervenes, the opinions would be unified.’

But such a high rank rarely revealed their will.

In the end, the Pope had only one choice.

To follow doctrine.

That is, to accept the duel’s outcome.

‘Surely the High Priest won’t lose…’

That was his thought.

Then—

Fwoooosh!

The hellfire’s intensity surged as if about to explode.

Sensing danger, the High Priest summoned all her strength to end it in one blow.

The Throne’s energy, barely holding, was pushed back pitifully.

[Your antics end here.]

With a powerful evil instrument, causality trembled.

A causality that shattered everything.

Crack.

Unable to withstand, the Throne began to collapse.

Chris’s face turned pale.

At the critical moment, he twisted the corner of his mouth.

“Gotcha.”

[…What did you say?]

Yes.

Chris had been waiting for this moment.

When the opponent’s energy was at its peak.

When their guard was at its widest.

‘Because I have a powerful weapon others don’t.’

The power of light.

His level still didn’t match that of the High Priest.

But he possessed an extraordinary talent for finding his opponent’s weaknesses—more so than anyone else in the world. And that held true even when the opponent wielded the power of causality.

“The causality the High Priest claims to ‘destroy’… It’s so overwhelmingly powerful that it actually creates a greater rift.”

Chris lifted Andril.

Before, he hadn’t been able to wield Andril properly, but now, having reached the ninth star, things were different.

Perfection.

An absolute power that tolerated no flaw in the world had pierced the rift in causality.

Crackling!

It sounded like the world itself was shaking.

Even with Andril’s power, the High Priest was at the ninth star. He managed to block Andril’s might.

But because the distortion in causality collided with perfection, the rift inevitably widened.

Still, it was a subtle difference.

Normally, it would have been impossible to penetrate.

Except when it came to the power of light.

“The source of his power is evil. So, light is the natural counter to his strength.”

No matter how intense the force of evil, when it touched light, the area of contact would inevitably suffer damage.

Compared to the overall momentum, it was a minor loss—but what if that damage struck the very core of causality?

Everything could collapse.

Just like it was happening now.

Crash.

“Ugh?!”

As causality crumbled, he spat out a mouthful of blood. He’d been hit by the backlash of causality itself.

It was a fatal wound.

“Y-You… the power of light?”

“Ah, I’m so great that I even command the power of light. Isn’t it amazing—evil that has subdued light? Even the archdemon I made a pact with was pleased.”

Chris smirked.

“Now, it’s about time to finish this.”

The tide had turned.

At this rate, the outcome was clear.

He retreated, but there was nowhere left to fall back to.

In the end, he bit his lip hard and resorted to his last resort.

“Great One! Have mercy on this servant, and let your majesty descend upon us!!”

A demonic summoning!

His master was also a rank 4 of the Four Realms.

If it manifested, it would be over.

But then—

“You seem to be forgetting something.”

The summoning ritual abruptly halted.