Chapter 406

Evan raised his sword at the front line, while Idrene performed hematoma magic from behind. Lanya supported them both with white magic.

KRAAAANG!!!

The world shook as if an earthquake had struck.

They barely managed to block it, but all three were in bad shape.

“Impressive. Let’s see how far you can hold out.”

The Demon Lord of the Scarlet Sky ignited his flames once more.

The red fire shifted to blue, then transformed into pure white flames—white blaze.

This was Arc Fire, heated beyond 100,000 degrees by twisting causality itself.

But that wasn’t all.

Flare.

Two, three… more than ten Arc Fires rose up.

“Try blocking these as well.”

The three paled.

No matter who they were, stopping that was impossible.

“…We don’t mind dying. We have to protect Christian.”

“…That was exactly what I was going to say, you arrogant fool.”

“Ugh… I’m not ready to die yet.”

They formed a shield in front of Christian’s coffin, determined that not even a hair on his head would be harmed before they fell.

“Foolish.”

The white flames flickered and surged forward.

Evan and Idrene tried to stop them like before, but it was useless.

Not a single one of the ten white flames was extinguished.

In the end, there was only one option.

They had to sacrifice themselves to keep Christian from being caught in the explosion.

“My life has always belonged to Christian. It’s not a loss.”

“Why do you keep saying what I was about to say? I’m the one closest to Christian.”

“Ah, shut up, you idiots!”

Then—

The white flames flew right up to them.

Just as everyone braced for the coming storm of destruction—

Suddenly, something strange happened.

They froze.

The white flames hung suspended in midair.

As if held back by some invisible force.

Then, without a trace, they vanished.

“!!”

The Demon Lord of the Scarlet Sky looked stunned.

“No, what? Is this causality suppression? That’s impossible without a Great Being. Who?”

It was a technique that overwhelms an opponent’s causality with absolute force.

But there was no celestial or archdemon present here.

“…No way.”

And then—

The voice everyone had been desperately waiting for echoed.

“Ah, I’m a little late.”

“Christian!!!”

Everyone’s eyes widened as if they might burst.

Christian, who had been lying in the coffin, was now standing.

“W-How?”

The Demon Lord’s face twisted in disbelief.

“What’s with the surprise? A genius like me can come back from the dead.”

Of course, it wasn’t as easy as he made it sound.

The battle with the Gatekeeper of the Third Realm had been brutal.

He had barely won by gathering the power of other Great Beings from the Seventh Realm.

‘By now, Heaven and Gehenna must be in chaos.’

The Great Beings of the Seventh Realm had all regained their strength and original status, and had declared war on those who had imprisoned them.

Since it was a war among Great Beings, Gehenna and Heaven wouldn’t be able to pay attention to the surface world for at least hundreds of years.

“Christian!!!”

“Have you all been well?”

“…But you?”

Idrene, Evan, and Lanya approached Christian, then hesitated.

They sensed a change in him.

His presence was less human, more like that of a Great Being.

“Ah, I’ve achieved something.”

Christian smiled wryly.

“First, how about we take care of that red-haired bug?”

“!!”

To call the fourth-ranked Grand General of the Magic Empire a bug—

Yet the Demon Lord of the Scarlet Sky didn’t even flinch with anger.

As a nine-star upper-rank demon lord, he could feel what Christian had achieved.

“Th-That’s impossible! How did you reach ten stars?”

“Are you seriously saying that while watching me? Die.”

A horrifying scene unfolded.

Christian snapped his fingers, and the Demon Lord of the Scarlet Sky coughed up blood.

An appalling sight.

“You destroyed his causality from within, and he didn’t die? Impressive.”

“!!”

The Demon Lord staggered back.

‘I-I have to run.’

Even as a nine-star upper-rank, he was still mortal.

Compared to a ten-star Great Being, he was like an insect.

Gritting his teeth, he scattered destructive dark magic into the air.

He was trying to tear open space and escape into a pocket dimension.

“Where do you think you’re going? Don’t underestimate me.”

The space he tried to open was instantly sealed.

“Die.”

“W-Wait!!”

Darkness swallowed the area in an instant, engulfing the Demon Lord.

“KRAAAAAAAH!!!”

A terrible scream echoed, and a handful of blood dripped from the air.

He was dead.

An unbelievable, hollow end.

But Christian didn’t stop there.

“What’s this?”

The Demon Lord hadn’t come alone.

He had brought thousands of monstrous humans turned into demon soldiers.

The demon soldiers froze, overwhelmed by Christian’s presence.

“…There’s no saving them.”

Christian sighed.

They hadn’t become monsters by choice.

They had been forcibly experimented on by the Demon King, suffering unimaginable pain until they became these horrors.

Their souls’ screams moved Christian deeply.

“…All I can do is grant them rest. Rest peacefully.”

Christian raised his hand.

Darkness filled the world.

But it wasn’t cruel darkness.

Like the calm of evening, warm darkness enveloped the demon soldiers, guiding their souls to peace.

—Aaaahhh.

The monsters freed from pain wept.

One by one, they melted into the darkness and vanished, leaving the area silent.

“……”

Everyone stared in shock at Christian, who had performed an unbelievable miracle.

Christian shrugged.

“What are you all staring at? Did you just realize I’m great?”

“!!”

At that infuriating voice, everyone let out a half-hearted laugh.

No matter how exalted he became, Christian was still Christian.

“Christian!! We’ve been waiting for you!!”

Idrene ran up, and Evan scowled, feeling upstaged.

Suddenly, a suffocating pressure filled the room.

‘What is this?’

Even Christian, now a ten-star, felt tense under this oppressive aura.

Aside from the existences of Heaven and Gehenna, only two beings in this world possessed such power.

“…The Magic Chancellor.”

Silently—

A handsome man with black hair in a formal suit appeared out of thin air.

A sly smile tugged at his lips.

It was truly the Magic Chancellor.

“Welcome back. Not only did you return from death, but you’ve reached ten stars. Impressive.”

Clap, clap.

The Magic Chancellor applauded.

“Shut up. Did you come here looking to die?”

Christian said coldly.

“Hmm, you? Isn’t that a bit premature?”

“!!”

“You don’t seem to have earned the ‘authority’ that matches a Great Being yet.”

The Magic Chancellor smiled knowingly.

It was true.

Christian’s current state was ten-star ‘advanced’—not yet a perfect ten-star like the Chancellor.

But Christian didn’t back down.

“Don’t you know? My specialty is making strong opponents kneel. Taking you down is no problem.”

By all measures, the Chancellor had the upper hand.

But the gap wasn’t insurmountable.

It was a difference that could be overturned depending on the situation.

And Christian had never lost in such cases.

“…Well, you’re a monster. Fighting monsters is just a waste of my time, so I’ll hold back. Besides, I didn’t come here to fight you.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I have a proposal for you.”

“A proposal?”

The Chancellor smiled enigmatically, then snapped his fingers.

The surroundings shifted, and everyone else vanished, leaving only Christian and the Chancellor.

“Don’t be nervous. This is a secret conversation, so I had to secure privacy.”

Then the Chancellor said something unexpected.

“I want you to kill the Demon King.”

“!!”

Christian’s eyes widened.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I never wanted destruction from the start. Look at the state of my soul.”

The Chancellor revealed his soul’s boundary for Christian to see.

A seal of binding was engraved.

“I forcibly branded the Demon King with this binding seal when I was the nine-star Dark Annihilation Demon Lord. He was my slave. He obeyed only because he had no choice, not because he agreed with the Demon King’s will.”

“……”

“To put humanity above Gehenna and Heaven? What’s the point? It’s nonsense from the start, isn’t it? I want to be the one to strike down the Demon King, but as you can see, I’m bound by this seal. So I need you to do it instead.”

Christian’s gaze darkened.

‘What’s his real game?’

He couldn’t take the Chancellor’s words at face value.

He recalled what the Dark Gossip had said.

—The true mastermind behind all this might be the Magic Chancellor.

The Chancellor continued.

“I understand if you don’t trust me. But you should think carefully. Without my help, you won’t even get inside the boundary.”

“Boundary?”

“Yes, see that unpleasant pillar of light?”

On the Demon King’s throne stood a mysterious pillar of light.

“It’s the altar the Demon King has been preparing for centuries. Even you would find it difficult to break through the barrier of that altar, no matter how hard you try. But I helped create that altar, so I can make a gap in it.”

“……”

“Everyone already inside the Huangdu has started getting consumed by the altar, and the Demon King keeps growing stronger. If we wait any longer, it’ll be impossible to do anything.”

But Chris frowned.

‘What should I do?’

Breaking through that pillar looked nearly impossible.

He couldn’t trust how the bastard might strike from behind.

Then the Archmage said something Chris couldn’t ignore.

“About Mafu… if you want to save ‘Mari,’ you’d better make your choice quickly.”

“…What?”

“Mari was trying to be your strength, but from the start, she was created as a tool of the Demon King. There’s no way she can stand against him. She tried some tricks to hurt the Demon King, but ended up captured and offered as a sacrifice. If you wait any longer, Mari will vanish completely from this world.”

He didn’t sound like he was lying.

In the end, Chris spoke up.

“…There’s a condition. You have to swear to give me your soul and become my subordinate.”

It wasn’t a condition he expected the Archmage to accept.

If he refused, Chris planned to use that as an excuse to trap him in another snare. But the Archmage’s response was unexpected.

“Fine. I’ll become your subordinate.”

“…What?”

“So, does that make you my second master? If you want to be my only master, you’ll have to take care of the first one properly.”

Chris stared at him in disbelief.

“Don’t even think about pulling any tricks.”

A bright seal of binding flashed.

Now the Archmage was in no position to oppose Chris.

‘Even so, I can’t fully trust this guy.’

But at least it gave him some control.

“Lead the way to Huangdu.”

Finally.

The moment of the final battle had arrived.