Chapter 400
KRAAAASH!

The laws of causality trembled violently.

The fundamental rules that govern the world twisted into a blade aimed straight at Chris, and a horrifying spiritual presence seeped into his ears.

Screeeech!

His mind spun dizzily.

He could feel his soul darkening in real time.

‘Are they trying to consume my soul with the Gehenna’s instrument?’

This wasn’t just about exposing his soul to the instrument.

His soul was synchronizing with the instrument, becoming one with it, twisting at its very core.

An impossible phenomenon by all logic—but to command causality is to wield a power that makes the impossible possible.

‘I’m not just taking this lying down.’

Flash!

The power of the Throne pushed back the causality that was devouring his soul.

Though it was a trick, Chris’s current ability to manipulate causality rivaled that of a 9-star Supreme. He easily defended against the Pope’s scheme.

Yet the Pope remained unfazed, calm as ever.

[Let’s see how far your little tricks can go.]

Flash.

The power flared again.

“Be careful!!”

This time, it was a physical attack.

Alongside the shaking causality, the empty void trembled, and thousands upon thousands of invisible blades flew toward Christian.

Each blade carried causality within it.

“!!”

Chris managed to raise his own power to defend, but his face paled faintly.

The same scene repeated relentlessly.

The Pope launched attacks as if toying with him.

Chris barely held his defense, but his strength visibly waned.

His boosted abilities were nothing more than a shortcut; the limits became clearer with every passing moment.

[It’s time to finish this.]

Roar.

The Pope summoned his full strength, and the arena fell silent.

Everyone watching swallowed hard.

This time, there was no way to stop him.

The overwhelming energy was palpable.

But then Chris twisted the corner of his mouth into a smirk.

“Hmm? We’ll see who’s really ending this.”

Flash!!!

Darkness engulfed the surroundings.

Chris unleashed the full power of the Throne.

But this time, the Throne’s form was different.

A calm voice echoed.

The soft sound spread, piercing the ears of everyone present.

It stirred awe deep within their hearts—even the priests of the Mystic Maga felt reverence rising.

This was not mere ‘power’ ruling over all things.

It was as if the entire world bowed in worship.

The Throne’s power had completely dominated causality.

Despite using a shortcut, Chris had manifested the Throne at the level of a perfect 9-star Supreme Ruler.

He had been preparing beneath the surface all along while defending.

Thanks to that—

[How dare you.]

The Pope’s expression hardened, sensing something was amiss.

Rumble.

The Pope’s power clashed with the Throne’s, shaking the world as if heaven and earth were being overturned.

The source of the Pope’s power was the Gehenna’s instrument.

The instrument invaded the land as if to devour it, but Chris’s Throne sought to subdue it.

A battle to determine the true master of causality.

As they stood evenly matched, the balance suddenly shifted.

Chris’s Throne surged forward, pushing back the Pope’s power.

“Long live the Demon King of Contempt!!”

The onlookers erupted in cheers.

The other battles had quieted, and all eyes were fixed on Chris with desperate hope.

But the Pope let out a dark laugh.

[Foolish. It’s over.]

“!!”

Roar.

The nature of the Pope’s Genesis Descent shifted.

A crushing pressure, like a giant pressing down, weighed heavily on the surroundings.

It was an overwhelming force that crushed the soul.

At the same time, countless eyes appeared within the Gehenna’s space that had consumed the land.

Just meeting their gaze was enough to shatter one’s sanity—terrifying, dreadful eyes.

‘The Great Grade!’

He had twisted causality to summon the Archdemons—beings who should have no influence on the mortal realm.

Though only a fragment of their power, not their true forms, it was utterly overwhelming.

‘He used the collapse of causality caused by the collision of my Throne’s power and his own to his advantage.’

As expected of the Pope—his abilities surpassed imagination.

But in the face of this despair, Chris reacted in a way no one could understand.

“Who’s the fool, I wonder.”

[…What?]

“Do you think this great me failed to anticipate you pulling such a stunt?”

Indeed, Chris had foreseen the Pope’s move.

He had witnessed it in a past life.

‘I was waiting for him to summon the Archdemons.’

Chris shifted his gaze.

“Now, Idrinne!”

Idrinne, who had remained silent and unmoving until now, suddenly opened her eyes sharply.

“Can you do it?”

“Of course. There is no impossible feat for the power of my friendship.”

Chris hadn’t called Idrinne just to disrupt the altar’s ritual.

She was the joker in this operation.

Whether she could succeed or not would decide the outcome.

Flash!

The altar trembled.

Idrinne had not been idle all this time.

Seizing the moment while the Pope was engaged with Chris, she wrested control of the altar back to herself.

Why?

To use the altar according to her own will.

[What are you trying to do, you fools?]

The Pope frowned.

“You foolishly summoned such immense power and just stand by?”

[…What?]

“I will absorb it all for you.”

As mentioned before, the altar’s principle was simple.

It absorbed offerings and converted them into power.

The total amount of offerings it could absorb was infinite.

But there was one key point.

The altar didn’t only absorb living offerings.

Anything that could be converted into power could serve as an offering.

‘In other words, it’s possible to absorb the Archdemons’ energy as offerings.’

An absurd notion.

How could the energy of Archdemons be used as offerings? It was impossible by the laws of the world.

Yet it was possible.

‘By rewriting the ‘definition’ set by causality itself.’

If the law said Archdemon energy couldn’t be used as offerings, then that law could be changed.

That was the power of a Ruler who commands causality.

[What…!! That can’t be possible?!]

The Pope, realizing Chris’s plan, shouted in shock.

“You’re just too stupid to do it, but I can.”

Roar!!

The sky shook as if the Archdemons themselves were enraged.

But they hadn’t fully manifested in their true forms—only shadows cast upon the world.

They couldn’t overturn the causality Chris had rewritten.

‘The problem is Idrinne.’

It wasn’t enough to convert the Archdemons’ energy into offerings.

Idrinne had to absorb that energy into the altar.

For someone not yet a full 9-star, it was an overwhelming task.

—I’ll help.

Chris sent the message, but Idrinne responded unexpectedly.

—No, it’s fine. I can do it.

—But?

—If you help, you’ll suffer great harm. I will handle it.

Chris fell silent.

She was right.

Unlike Chris, who was directly exposed to the Archdemons’ energy, Idrinne had fused with the altar.

He didn’t know what fatal side effects he might suffer.

—Trust me. I have a plan.

—…What?

—Didn’t I say? I will be your strength, no matter what.

Watching Idrinne’s actions, Chris’s eyes widened.

She was attempting something reckless, impossible.

‘She’s absorbing the converted energy into herself?’

She was trying to achieve ascension in one fell swoop using the Archdemons’ energy!

‘It’s impossible!!’

Ascension wasn’t something you could achieve simply by absorbing energy.

Especially at the 9-star threshold, where Idrinne was stuck.

No, beyond that, there was no way she could survive absorbing that much energy.

But Chris had forgotten one thing.

She had been the Bloodshed Demon King in a past life.

It wasn’t just the demons’ arrival that made her the Bloodshed Demon King.

Her talent as a vessel was unparalleled, allowing her to be reborn as the Bloodshed Demon King.

Flash!

The Archdemons’ energy swirled inside Idrinne’s body.

Normally, she should have shattered into pieces, but she used her body like the altar she had synchronized with.

She made it a vessel to contain the energy.

Idrinne calmly observed the Archdemons’ energy raging within her.

‘Archdemons themselves are embodiments of causality.’

This was the special trait of Great Grades above the 4th tier.

Lower beings manipulate or control causality.

But the Archdemons of Gehenna and the Great Stars of the Celestial Realm carried causality within their very existence.

They were the pillars that composed the world.

Therefore, their energy also contained causality.

‘If I can handle this energy, I can reach 9 stars.’

She could do it.

Idrinne recalled the past.

When demons had descended and manipulated her body.

It was a terrible memory, but there was something to gain.

The demon’s puppeteering of her body was an act of manipulating causality.

She still vividly remembered the sensation of the demon moving causality.

‘I practiced countless times based on that memory. I can do it.’

To help Chris, she had to become 9 stars.

With that resolve, she had tried many times to manipulate causality.

Her enlightenment was already complete.

Still, she hadn’t reached 9 stars because her vessel wasn’t ready.

Just like Chris before, her enlightenment outpaced her physical form.

But now, with the Archdemons’ energy inside her body, the problem was solved.

She wasn’t absorbing it—

Since absorbing the energy of the Great Demons risked corrupting both body and soul…

Instead, I’d use that energy to strengthen my own vessel.

Amazingly, it was the exact same idea Chris had when he absorbed Sherard before.

Fwoooosh!

The energy of the Great Demons tempered Edrinne’s vessel.

But Edrinne didn’t just reinforce the vessel—she purified the demonic energy through the altar, converting it into pure power and channeling it directly to Chris.

Handling such a massive bundle of causal energy from the Great Demons, Edrinne’s mastery soared in real time.

At the same time, an overwhelming surge of power flowed into Christian.

[W-What…!!]

“It’s over.”

Chris aimed his weapon at Andril.

The immense energy sent by Edrinne rippled along the tip of Andril’s sword.

Andril could hold an infinite amount of energy.

Even if it was from the Great Demons, he could handle it without issue.

The Pope desperately tried to manipulate causality to defend himself, but Chris wasn’t about to let that happen.

The power of Chris’s throne disrupted the Pope’s defenses, while the Demon Lord of Silver Snow, the Demon Lord of Sorrow, and Nordian all poured their remaining strength into the attack.

Granted, even with all that, it only managed to leave a slight scratch—but even the faintest crack was enough.

Fwoooosh!

Andril flashed like a blade slicing through the world.

He shattered the Pope’s already weakened defenses to pieces and cleaved through his body.