Chapter 399

Whether it was Nordian or Eunseol’s Demon King, having two immensely powerful Demon Kings trapped in the bodies of little kids created a strange mix of imbalance and cuteness that somehow fit.

But it wasn’t just Eunseol’s Demon King lending strength.

“Evil, be consumed by a greater malice.”

A gray mist of dark magic descended upon the priests of the Mystic Mage.

It was a curse.

Normally, the priests of the Mystic Mage were immune to most curses, unaffected even by the slightest trace. But this gray magic was different.

“Ugh!”

The priests clutched their heads and dropped to their knees.

Shockingly, some of them were high-ranking priests.

It made sense—the curse’s master was the Demon King of Sorrow.

A lower 9-star Demon King and ruler of the Western Magic Empire, he had been persuaded by Chris to join the battle.

With Nordian, Chris, and two Demon Kings gathered together, their combined power was beyond imagination.

“Cough, cough…”

“W-what is this…?”

The Mystic Mage had no choice but to fall under the assault, which was effectively the combined might of the entire Magic Empire, minus the Mystic Mage itself.

Especially since Chris had already weakened many of the high priests beforehand, their resistance was even more fragile.

One by one, priests and apostles collapsed to the ground, and the tide of battle was turning in Chris’s favor.

Suddenly, a tremendous roar echoed.

Kuuung!

“Ugh!!!”

Idrinne spat blood violently.

The momentum in the struggle for control of the altar had shifted to the Pope.

“Grandfather, we need to capture the Pope.”

“Agreed.”

Nordian nodded.

If they couldn’t defeat the Pope, this battle was lost.

Fortunately, they had already taken down a significant number of priests and apostles, so others could handle the aftermath.

“I will join as well! I shall show the greatness of my power!”

“I’m here too.”

Eunseol’s Demon King and the Demon King of Sorrow stepped forward.

So, Chris and three Demon Kings faced off against the Pope.

Two were mid-9-star, two were lower 9-star.

An overwhelming force—but Chris swallowed hard.

‘I don’t think we can win.’

It felt like standing before an insurmountable cliff.

A despair similar to what he’d felt facing the Bloodletting Demon King at his prime.

No matter how much you struggled, you couldn’t reach him.

‘The Pope’s power is no less than that of the Bloodletting Demon King back then.’

And Chris’s current party was far weaker than the hero party that had faced the Bloodletting Demon King before his regression.

At the end, Evan had reached upper 9-star, and Lanya mid-9-star.

Still, the hero party lost.

‘At this rate, there’s no way we can win.’

Truthfully, Chris didn’t want to fight such a reckless battle.

If things hadn’t escalated so quickly, he would have grown stronger before challenging.

But there was no turning back.

They had to pull this off somehow.

“You’ve put up quite a show.”

The Pope’s voice was calm and leisurely.

Even now, countless Mystic Mage priests were being slaughtered by the Dark League, yet he seemed utterly unconcerned.

“Their deaths will serve as the foundation for Gehenna’s evil, a glorious sacrifice. Even if only one remains to achieve the grand plan, I care not what becomes of this order.”

It was true.

The Mystic Mage were slaves, pawns of Gehenna.

Once the boundaries between the three realms broke and Gehenna’s evil descended directly upon the world, their role would be over.

“Ridiculous. You’re just neglecting their deaths because you don’t want to share the glory after the apocalypse with your underlings.”

The Pope smirked.

“Yes, you’re not wrong. But what of it? We, the servants of evil, naturally seek victory.”

Chris frowned.

In fact, the Pope had several chances to thwart Chris’s schemes.

Even now, if he had gone all out, he could have minimized the damage.

But he deliberately held back for his own greed.

“Since this is the end, one last question. What reward has your Mystic Mage been promised after the apocalypse?”

“There’s no reason to tell you.”

“You don’t know exactly either, do you?”

The Pope faltered.

“…Silence. A new world will unfold, and under the great ones, I shall receive a grand reward.”

“So, what exactly is this new world? What reward will you get? Do you know?”

The Pope remained silent.

Chris nodded inwardly.

‘He doesn’t know what will happen after the apocalypse either.’

He guessed why.

‘Because nothing is set in stone.’

There were three factions hoping for the apocalypse: Gehenna, the Celestial Realm, and the Demon King.

The Mystic Mage were pawns not only of Gehenna but also of the Celestial Realm and the Demon King.

But these were not friendly collaborators.

‘They all seek ascension.’

No one knew what ascension truly meant.

Or what would happen afterward.

What was certain was that, whatever the hidden truth, they had to stop the Mystic Mage here and now.

“This conversation has gone on too long. That arrogant tongue of yours will speak no more.”

Crackle.

A chilling noise began to rise around the Pope.

Causality itself was trembling.

‘Ruler.’

Upper 9-star, the realm of mastering causality.

A state where one becomes like the master of the world.

Now, they had to face this despairing existence.

Before the fight even began, Chris’s spirit wavered, and he clenched his fists tightly.

It wasn’t a matter of will.

It was an instinctive reaction to an overwhelming power.

‘I can do this. No, I have to.’

He had a plan.

“Grandfather, and Your Majesties, please follow my lead as I said before.”

Nordian, Eunseol’s Demon King, and the Demon King of Sorrow all turned their eyes to Chris.

They looked doubtful.

Chris nodded firmly.

“Trust me.”

“Good. If I can’t trust my grandson, who can I trust?”

“Don’t worry! I’ll help too!”

“…This atmosphere is a bit awkward.”

Nordian, Eunseol’s Demon King, and the Demon King of Sorrow stepped before the Pope.

Nordian and the Demon King of Sorrow unleashed their respective Genesis Descents first.

The Dark Overlord.

The Prelude of Sorrow.

The world was engulfed in darkness and curses.

But the Pope only sneered.

“Worms. You will kneel before true despair.”

Flash!

The Pope stretched out his hand, and an intangible vibration spread.

It wasn’t a Genesis Descent.

Nothing grandiose.

But the result was unbelievable.

Crash!!

Nordian and the Demon King of Sorrow’s Genesis Descents shattered into pieces.

‘He destroyed the causality that formed the Genesis Descents!’

Chris swallowed hard.

Genesis Descent was about reconstructing causality in one’s own world, but the Pope had shattered the very foundation of that causality in an instant.

“I won’t kill you immediately since you’re sacrifices. But I’ll take one arm first.”

The Pope pointed at Nordian and the Demon King of Sorrow.

In an instant, the laws of the world shifted.

Their arms were severed.

That became the new law of reality, and red lines appeared across their arms.

Nordian and the Demon King of Sorrow paled.

They tried to muster all their strength to resist, but it was useless.

Then, a clear voice rang out.

“Take this! Receive my sword!”

Flash!

The world around them changed.

Countless swords bloomed.

It was Eunseol’s Demon King’s Genesis Descent: the Forest of Blades on a Mountain of Swords.

Within this world of blades, Eunseol’s sword flashed.

The Pope’s causality was cut.

But it didn’t stop there.

Eunseol’s Demon King swung his sword again through the air.

Slash!

The space before the Pope was sliced open.

The Pope raised a finger to block the attack and let out a voice of admiration.

“Oh? Eunseol was said to be second only to the Dragon King, but now I see otherwise. You’re a step above the Dragon King.”

But Eunseol’s Demon King’s expression was grim.

Their duel had just confirmed the gap between them.

They could never surpass the Pope.

“I’ll show you a bit more sincerity.”

Snap.

The scenery around them changed.

A horrific vision of hell appeared.

The Pope had summoned the landscape of Gehenna, based on perfect control of causality.

Flames of hellfire bloomed in the Pope’s hand.

Until now, he had only manipulated causality simply, but now he was preparing a twisted, full-fledged attack.

An ultimate technique, flawless and without a single opening, based on perfect causality.

“You won’t take me down so easily!”

Eunseol’s Demon King swung his sword at the hellfire.

But the flames didn’t budge.

Unless one was upper 9-star, they couldn’t extinguish those flames.

“Let’s give you a taste of hellfire’s pain in advance. Scream in agony.”

Fwoosh!

Like a tidal wave, the hellfire surged forward.

A desperate moment.

Yet Eunseol’s Demon King and the others showed an inexplicable reaction.

No fear.

‘What is this?’

Just as the Pope looked puzzled, an impossible event occurred.

Crack.

A breaking sound.

Then, a sharp pain grazed the back of his neck.

‘…What?’

At that moment—

Flash!!!

Blood sprayed like a fountain from the Pope’s neck.

“!!!”

The Pope was shocked and manipulated causality to heal the wound.

Beyond the extinguished hellfire, Chris’s figure appeared, aiming Andril at the Pope.

“Y-you… how?”

The Pope wore a look of utter disbelief.

Christian had only just reached the rank of 9th Star Mid.

Even among the 9th Star Mid, he was several levels below the Demon Lord Eunsul.

So how could he have cut through the causal laws of a 9th Star Upper like him?

“What’s with the surprise? Did you think I wasn’t impressive?”

Andrill slashed through the air again.

A strike that cut through the very fabric of causality.

The Pope countered by manipulating his own causal laws.

A 9th Star Mid could only manipulate causality, after all.

He should have been no match for the Pope, who ruled over causality itself.

Slash.

[!!]

The Pope’s causal laws were severed.

This was no coincidence.

His eyes widened as if they might tear.

From Christian’s attack, he realized one undeniable truth.

[What? How could he wield the Ruler’s power?]

The power to control causality was unique to a 9th Star Upper Ruler.

‘He’s reached 9th Star Upper?’

No way.

His level hadn’t changed at all.

The Pope belatedly understood the reason.

[…Your ability… is it the Throne’s power? You’re stealing the strength of others.]

The Throne was a power that ruled over everything in existence, causality included.

However, unlike the perfect control a 9th Star Upper Ruler had over causality, the Throne’s power was imperfect—so he resorted to a trick.

First, he brought Nordian, the Demon Lord of Sorrow, and the Demon Lord Eunsul under his control, absorbing their causal manipulation powers as his own.

Thanks to that, Christian, though only a 9th Star Mid, could wield a power similar to a Ruler’s.

[Foolish. Do you really think such cheap tricks will work?]

The Pope sneered as he unleashed his power.