Chapter 108
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: A Requiem for the Vengeful
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Though he cast a defensive black magic spell, it was futile.
*Crash!*
It shattered in an instant like breaking glass, and the darkness of ruin pierced Count Riberi's heart.
A large hole was torn through Count Riberi's chest.
“We won, right, brother?”
TERN asked with a bright face, but the expressions on Chris and Count Cazar hardened.
“Brother, Father? What’s wrong?”
“Dammit. Could it be?”
“I believe so.”
The two exchanged a cryptic conversation.
Count Cazar shouted urgently.
“Christian, TERN!! Both of you, run now!”
“Yes, but…?”
“Hurry! Christian, you take TERN!! I’ll hold him off, so go!”
At that moment.
*Fwoosh.*
An ashen mist gathered around Count Riberi's body, converging on the hole in his chest.
An ominous light emanated from the mist, which had clumped together like a cloud, and then…
Count Riberi was completely healed.
“!!”
An unbelievable spectacle.
Chris, who figured out what had happened, swallowed a curse.
‘Damn it.’
It was the 7-Star curse black magic, ‘Immortality’.
Through the orgel, Count Riberi had managed to manifest the power of a 7-Star, Dominant class.
* * *
“…”
A heavy silence filled the hall.
‘The worst-case scenario.’
Just as there was a world of difference between 4-Star and 5-Star, and 5-Star and 6-Star, the same was true for 7-Star.
A 5-Star embodies their will as a powerful aura.
A 6-Star uses their will to manifest power that reaches the limits of natural law.
A 7-Star ‘Dominant’ class becomes a master of the laws themselves.
That is how they can manifest ‘miracles’ like ‘Immortality,’ which make a mockery of the laws of nature.
Count Riberi caressed his fully healed chest and spoke with a leisurely voice.
“Impressive. Count Cazar, I had heard of your prowess, but I didn’t expect it to be this much. Without the orgel, someone like me would have been no match for you.”
“…How can you manifest power that surpasses your level?”
Count Cazar asked coolly.
“As far as I know, even the Orgel of Gluttony doesn’t have that kind of effect.”
“Hmm, you seem to have a misunderstanding about the Orgel of Gluttony. Then again, you’re not the only one.”
Count Riberi chuckled.
“The power of the Orgel of Gluttony doesn’t just assist the caster’s abilities. If enough sacrifices are offered, it allows the caster to surpass their limits.”
“!!”
Understanding the meaning of his words, Count Cazar gritted his teeth.
“…Just how many have you sacrificed so far?”
“Well, a great many?”
Count Riberi gave a sinister smile.
“What does it matter how many of those worthless commoners die? They have no value alive anyway. They should feel infinitely honored to be used as nourishment for a great power.”
“…You damn bastard. Shut up.”
“Keke, so high and mighty. This is the problem with our Dark Magic Houses. Sealing away such a great artifact just because you can’t tolerate a mere human sacrifice. In that regard, Young Lord Eshid is the one truly fit for the new era of Dark Magic Houses.”
Count Cazar trembled with rage.
But the situation was dire.
As long as Count Riberi could manifest 7-Star level power, they had no chance of winning.
“Well then, I shall end this. All three of you will be offered as sacrifices for Young Lord Eshid, so consider it an honor.”
Count Riberi began to chant, and the orgel once again started its eerie performance.
With it, Count Riberi's surroundings were dyed in ash.
“Rest shall call to you. Descend, O Death!”
“!!”
The party's faces turned pale.
It was the 7-Star miracle black magic, ‘Death’.
Literally, a ‘miracle’ curse that forces death through a spoken command.
The command of death descended upon them.
* * *
At that moment, on a hill overlooking the Riberi county.
A young boy and girl were having an incomprehensible conversation.
“What will you do?”
“…”
“Will you perhaps intervene, My Lord?”
The Head of the House!
The boy's identity was an avatar of the Old Lord, Nordian.
Nordian's body was extremely frail, so he used an avatar like this when he went outside.
The girl beside him was Merian.
She had changed her appearance with illusion magic. As a member of the inspection team, she often had to move secretly and was accustomed to hiding her identity with illusions.
“…The situation does look rather grim.”
Merian turned her gaze.
The situation inside the mansion was being projected in mid-air.
The image showed Count Riberi using the orgel's power to cast a 7-Star miracle curse.
He had broken a family taboo, so it was only right to punish him, but…
‘The Lord never intervenes in the family’s affairs. No, he can’t.’
[He is unable.]
The words were profound.
The official reason Nordian didn’t intervene in family matters was because he had entrusted everything to Marquis Langham.
But Merian knew.
Why Nordian had been forced to make that choice.
Nordian had his reasons for being unable to get involved in the family’s business.
A secret known only to Merian and Simon.
‘And yet, the reason he came all this way must be because of that child, Christian.’
Nordian insisted that wasn’t the reason, but it was definitely because of Christian.
If Christian hadn’t been among those in danger, Nordian wouldn’t have even considered stepping in.
Of course, Count Cazar was also a beloved son of Nordian, but he would have let him die.
Because letting his beloved son die was better than the ‘price’ Nordian would have to pay for intervening in family affairs.
“…”
The situation inside the mansion changed rapidly.
A touch-and-go situation.
Now that the 7-Star curse had been cast, none of them would be able to escape death.
Nordian’s gaze lowered grimly.
‘Is he going to step in?’
Merian swallowed hard.
It would be the first time since Nordian had declared his seclusion.
But then.
Nordian’s intense aura suddenly dissipated.
“My Lord?”
“…That crazy bastard? What kind of madness is this?”
A flustered expression, so unlike Nordian.
Following Nordian's gaze to the projection of the mansion's interior, Merian wore the same expression.
In a desperate situation.
Christian had started to do something ‘crazy’.
Something unimaginable.
* * *
The moment the 7-Star miracle curse ‘Death’ descended.
Something unexpected happened.
“Malice, be twisted!”
*Fwaaa!*
Count Cazar used black magic to draw the entire ‘Death’ curse into his own body.
Thanks to him, Christian and TERN were safe, but.
“Cough!”
“Father!?!”
Count Cazar's face instantly turned blue as he vomited a mouthful of blood.
He shouted to Christian in a trembling voice.
“Christian, run!!”
“!!”
“The path is blocked, but with your abilities, you should be able to break through somehow! I’m fine, so take TERN and run!!”
He was trying to sacrifice himself to save Christian and TERN.
Chris clenched his fists tightly.
‘Damn it. What should I do?’
Even for Chris, facing an opponent who could use a 7-Star curse was reckless.
As Count Cazar said, the wise choice was for Christian and TERN to escape.
But.
- You are my son.
The fatherly affection Count Cazar had shown him flashed through his mind.
That wasn’t all.
“Please run, brother.”
TERN grabbed Christian’s shoulder.
“It’s impossible for me to escape alive with my skills. I’ll try to hold on for a few seconds, so at least you should live, brother.”
Both Count Cazar and TERN were trying to save him, no matter what.
Why?
Chris let out a hollow laugh.
Yes.
It was utterly ridiculous.
The way they were acting.
How could they be so foolish?!
Chris gritted his teeth.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“What?”
“I’m telling both of you, Father, and you, TERN, to stop being ridiculous. I’m not running away.”
“Christian. You!”
“Brother!”
Chris shook his head.
Instead, he turned his gaze toward Count Riberi.
“I will execute that damn bastard and ensure that none of us die.”
“!!”
“I have a way. Please trust me.”
Yes.
The moment he discovered the suspicious traces of a curse in the Brushen County.
Chris had prepared a countermeasure.
To deal with a situation like this.
‘The problem is, I can’t be sure it will succeed.’
But he had to make it work, somehow.
“Father, please hold on for just a little longer. It doesn’t have to be long. One or two minutes. Just hold on for that long.”
Count Cazar gritted his teeth.
He raised his magi resistance with all his might.
Unlike the 8-Star ‘Absolute Death’, it was possible to endure a 7-Star ‘Death’ curse to some extent.
Chris also spoke to TERN.
“Your role is important too. Listen to me carefully.”
Chris quickly whispered in his ear.
“Brother?”
“You must do exactly as I say.”
TERN looked puzzled for a moment before nodding firmly.
Chris hadn’t noticed, but TERN had come to trust his brother completely a long time ago.
Meanwhile, Count Riberi sneered at Chris's actions.
“I don’t know what you’re plotting, but no matter how much you struggle… Huh?”
Count Riberi let out a dumbfounded sound as he watched Christian’s actions.
A bewildered expression.
The others were the same.
Even Count Cazar forgot the encroaching death and stared blankly.
It was only natural.
Christian had taken a small stringed instrument, a ‘violin’, out of his luggage.
Everyone wondered if they were seeing things, but they weren’t.
It was indeed a violin.
It wasn’t an artifact or a relic in the shape of an instrument.
A pure musical instrument.
Something that didn’t fit the current situation at all.
“You’ve lost your mind. Why the sudden instrument? Are you planning to play a requiem to commemorate your own death?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“You’re right, I’m going to play a requiem.”
Count Riberi looked baffled.
But Chris was serious.
However, his purpose was different.
Chris glanced at the corpses hanging from the ceiling.
“With so many people having died unjustly, someone needs to console them.”
“!!”
“My performance is a requiem for them.”
Amidst the gruesome backdrop.
A clear, pure sound began to resonate.
It was also a requiem, but its tone was completely different from the orgel's.
Chris had once been a performer.
As such, his skill was beyond question. A masterful performance that surpassed even a Virtuoso.
A warm, beautiful, and at the same time, sorrowful sound filled the hall.
Their hearts ached, and for a moment, the people in the hall wore dazed expressions.
But at this moment, there were others who were stirred even more deeply.
The dead.
To be precise, it was their vengeful spirits.
The reason Chris had suddenly started playing.
‘I have to make those vengeful spirits move according to my will.’
Right now, the reason Count Riberi could manifest power beyond his limits was thanks to the human sacrifices made to the artifact.
But what if he could move the vengeful spirits?
And cause a problem with the ‘sacrifices’ offered to the orgel?
Count Riberi would lose his power.
‘The problem is, moving vengeful spirits is no easy task.’
As if sensing Chris’s true intention, Count Riberi’s lips curled into a smirk.
“How foolish. Do you really think you can move vengeful spirits with a mere performance? That’s something only an exorcist from the Alliance could do.”