Chapter 41
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Prelude to the Ceremony
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Following that, the other princesses and princes passed before Chris.
A beautiful woman with an impression as clear as glass.
A girl with a cold expression.
A boy with a rough demeanor.
They appeared to be the First Princess, Second Princess, and Third Prince, respectively, and they showed no interest in Chris whatsoever.
They didn't even spare him a glance.
It wasn't that they were ignoring him.
They were simply uninterested.
After all, they and Chris were on different levels.
Chris was too far beneath them to warrant their attention.
Once the four princes and princesses took their seats of honor, the banquet resumed.
The attention that had been focused on Chris vanished as if it had been washed away.
Everyone was now bustling to get even a single word in with the royalty.
‘I should get going.’
His purpose was to see the princes and princesses, so there seemed to be no reason to stay any longer.
‘It's a shame I didn't get to see the First Prince.’
Surprisingly, the most notoriously vile scoundrel in the Dark House was not Chris.
It was the First Prince, Sherard.
A man known as a madman.
But for some reason, Chris found himself concerned about the First Prince.
‘So many people to keep an eye on. Eshid, and the First Princess, Yurian, too.’
Chris glanced over at the First Princess.
The First Princess, Yurian, was surrounded by people.
Like all those of the Dark House bloodline, she had black hair and blood-red eyes.
But unlike the others, she had a gentle air about her.
The smile she offered the people was warm as well.
A clear, comforting feeling.
But that, paradoxically, made Chris even more wary.
Just what kind of claws were hidden behind that smile?
The corners of Chris’s lips lifted.
‘One by one, nice and slow.’
Whether it was Eshid, the absent First Prince, or the First Princess Yurian.
Eventually, they would all kneel before him.
Just as he was about to make his exit, an unexpected shout rang out.
“Greetings. I am Pru, a summoner in the service of Young Master Roin. On the eve of the Sacred Black Ceremony, I have a proposal! I believe we should verify the qualifications of the participants before the ceremony begins!”
A murmur went through the crowd.
“What does he mean?”
At Eshid's question, the majin bowed his head.
“Regrettably, I have heard that someone unqualified is scheduled to attend this Sacred Black Ceremony. If an unqualified person participates, they could be gravely injured or cause other problems. Verifying qualifications at tonight's eve-ceremony would prevent such a misfortune.”
All eyes turned to Chris.
Among those set to participate in the Sacred Black Ceremony, the only one who could be called unqualified was Christian.
‘Well, look at this.’
Christian folded his arms and scoffed.
This was obviously not the majin's idea alone.
It was obvious whose will this was.
‘Roin.’
The young master who would be Chris’s first sacrifice.
He was glaring at Christian with a triumphant look in his eyes.
‘I was planning on leaving quietly.’
Chris downed the rest of the ginger ale in his glass.
Since it had come to this, a brief introduction might be in order.
“This is merely a suggestion for the safety of anyone who might be participating in the Sacred Black Ceremony without the proper qualifications…”
“How noisy.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You want to go a round, is that it? You're being loud, so stop talking and show me your little performance.”
Chris beckoned with his finger.
“I’ll play along.”
The majin who had picked the fight flushed red.
“Then try to face the evil spirit I have summoned.”
A summoner.
A practitioner who summoned and commanded beings of darkness.
*Vwoom.*
A murky dark energy flowed from the majin’s hand, and a ghastly evil spirit materialized.
A 2-Ma class specter.
“This may be a bit challenging for someone at Young Master Christian’s level. Still, to participate in the Sacred Black Ceremony, you must be able to handle at least this much… Gaaah?!”
The majin couldn't finish his sentence.
The evil spirit had suddenly turned and attacked its own summoner.
“Why? Kuaargh! You bastard?! Aaaargh! So-someone, help?!”
Everyone in the banquet hall stared at the scene in shock.
‘How?’
The higher-ranking majin among them understood what had happened.
‘Did he lose control?’
‘No. It’s not that. It’s different from losing control.’
When control was lost, a summoned spirit would lose its reason and attack its surroundings indiscriminately.
But this spirit was precisely targeting only the summoner who had called it forth.
‘Don't tell me, this is?’
‘It’s not that he lost control, but that it was…?’
Just then, a mocking voice echoed through the hall.
“My, my. I’m not sure who should be worried about whom.”
As Chris beckoned with his finger, the spirit that had knocked out the summoner floated up and approached him.
Then, it knelt.
As if venerating its true master.
“To be so sloppy as to have your own summoned spirit stolen by another.”
The people in the hall were horrified.
‘Impossible!’
‘How could he seize control of an evil spirit summoned by another?!’
Interfering with a spirit summoned by an opponent was an incredibly difficult feat.
This was because a summoner and their spirit were bound by a black magic ‘contract.’
To nullify that contract, one’s own skill had to be vastly superior to the opponent’s, and even then, it was barely possible.
Moreover, the best one could usually hope for was to dispel the summon. To seize control like this was considered almost impossible.
Yet Chris had stolen his opponent's spirit with a simple flick of his finger.
‘If you’re going to step up so confidently, you should at least have the skill to back it up. How could you make such a shoddy contract with a spirit? You foolish oaf, you wouldn't have a leg to stand on if the spirit decided to betray you later.’
In other words.
He had exploited a loophole in the contract between his opponent and the spirit.
Though he chided him, it was, in fact, an unbelievable feat.
To read the structure of a spirit contract just from the flow of magi and identify its weaknesses.
It was something only Chris could do.
Receiving the astonished gazes of the crowd, Chris nonchalantly shrugged and looked at Roin, the true instigator of this incident.
“That just now. It was your will, wasn't it, Young Master Roin? That was unbecoming of a direct descendant of the Dark House.”
“!!”
“You should have challenged me to a duel yourself.”
Roin’s face turned red.
“You insolent fool. This has nothing to do with me.”
“Really?”
Chris gave an exaggerated, mocking smile.
A look that said, *what a transparent denial*.
“Well, it’s a lie even a fool wouldn't believe, but I’ll take your word for it. I’ll make a special exception and believe you.”
Roin’s face flushed as if it would burst.
He growled ferociously.
“…Be ready for tomorrow, at the Sacred Black Ceremony.”
“What a coincidence. I was about to say the same thing. You had best be prepared for tomorrow as well, Young Master.”
“……!!”
Chris spoke in a low voice.
“Because I’m starting to get a little angry myself.”
Chris had already planned to crush Roin during the Sacred Black Ceremony.
But now, his plan had changed slightly.
He wouldn't just crush him; he would make sure to utterly trample him.
Tomorrow, that fool would deeply repent his arrogance and misdeeds.
* * *
The day of the Sacred Black Ceremony dawned.
Chris headed for the main building of the estate.
Upon entering, he found the others who would be participating in the ceremony already waiting.
There was a familiar face.
“Younger brother?”
“Who are you calling younger brother?! I’m two years older than you!”
Allos snapped.
Chris shrugged.
“Why are you here? I told you to postpone.”
“…Don’t be ridiculous. How could I postpone the Sacred Black Ceremony?”
Allos scowled.
But inwardly, he was filled with regret.
‘Damn it, should I really have postponed? How am I supposed to compete with that guy? I don’t stand a chance.’
But it was too late now.
He sighed and spoke cautiously.
“Are you okay?”
“About what?”
“You got into a fight with Young Master Roin yesterday. He’s not going to let you off easy…”
“My dear brother.”
Chris replied with a grin.
“Are you sure you’re worried about the right person?”
“!!”
A shiver ran down Allos’s spine.
It was only then that Allos noticed something had changed about Chris.
Somehow… he seemed even stronger than before.
He thought he might have been mistaken, but he wasn't.
The aura he exuded was subtly different.
‘Impossible. It hasn’t even been a month, and he’s gotten stronger?’
Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed from the top of the main staircase.
It was Roin.
“……”
From the top of the stairs, Roin gazed down at Chris.
His eyes were filled with an arrogance that looked upon him as an inferior being.
Chris met his gaze calmly.
There was no need for pointless conversation.
After all, once the Sacred Black Ceremony began, they would start a much more ‘sincere dialogue’ than a hundred words could ever convey. With their fists.
“Is everyone gathered? I am Sebastian, the vice-butler in charge of the main building.”
His stature was only half that of a normal adult.
He was a halfling.
One peculiar thing about him, however, was the pointed hat he wore, like a sorcerer from a storybook.
“I shall guide you to the sacred ground where the ceremony will take place. Please follow me.”
A total of eight people were participating in the ceremony this time.
Only one, Roin, was from the direct line.
From the three branch families—the County of Cazar, the County of Tiramin, and the Marquisate of Schupen—there were two: Chris and Allos.
The rest were from various scattered, ordinary branch bloodlines.
The butler took out a small, toy-like staff and touched it to the floor.
Then, something incredible happened.
A path leading downwards appeared from the ordinary floor!
It was an illusion.
“I will go first. Please follow me.”
*Whoosh.* The halfling descended into the path to the basement.
A quick glance down revealed it was no ordinary basement.
In a vast, empty space, an endless path stretched out.
‘An illusion that manifests a virtual space? It seems to be an illusion installed in the mansion's basement itself, not one created by the halfling butler's skill.’
Chris figured out the nature of the stairs.
This was likely not going to be an easy path.
The de facto first test.
Anyone who fell behind would be stripped of their chance to participate in the Sacred Black Ceremony.
Realizing the same thing, the faces of the others hardened.
The first to step forward was Roin.
He walked with unrestrained steps, as if to say that he, the direct heir, should naturally go before mere branch family members.
As he passed Chris, he murmured softly.
“Make sure you don’t fall behind. I’ll give you a taste of hell during the ceremony.”
With those words, he vanished into the staircase.
Following him, the others took a deep breath and entered.
The first test had begun.
Following behind the halfling butler, Chris thought to himself.
‘This is nothing special.’
It was a simple test.
All they had to do was follow the butler.
However, what made it different from a normal run… was that the path was a chaotic mess of inclines.
It demanded the stamina of climbing a rugged mountain.
And the butler was moving forward at an absurdly fast pace, like a galloping horse.
Oh, and one more thing.
The part of the path behind them was crumbling away at high speed.
In other words, if you didn't keep up with the tremendous pace, you would fall behind.
“*Gasp, haah.*”
“H-how much longer?”
Two of the ordinary branch blood relatives, who seemed to be the weakest, panted heavily.
Their pace gradually slowed until they were finally caught by the collapsing path.