Chapter 44
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Sacred Black
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‘It’s different from ordinary magi. Definitely.’
At first.
When I first awoke in this body of ‘Christian’, there was one thing I considered a great stroke of luck.
The fact that I had been born into the bloodline of the Dark Magic House, among all the noble houses of the Magitech Empire.
In truth, the Dark Magic House was relatively weak among the twelve noble magic houses.
The top five most prominent magic houses were as follows.
The Mystic House.
The Necromancy House.
The Dark Elf House.
The Destruction House.
The Curse House.
Among them, the Mystic, Necromancy, and Dark Elf Houses possessed power incomparable to the others.
But despite that, Christian felt fortunate to have been born into the Dark Magic House instead of one of those.
It was all because of this Sacred Black.
‘A power that opens the possibility of becoming a true transcendent as a Majin.’
[Should one appear who can perfectly master the Dark Magi, they shall threaten the Demon Emperor's throne.]
It was a story that secretly circulated throughout the Magitech Empire.
It wasn't just an empty rumor.
Even the Old Lord Nordian hadn't been able to completely master all of the Dark Magi.
Sacred Black erupts in a fixed amount each time.
The amount of Sacred Black absorbed by Old Lord Nordian was just under eighty percent of it.
And yet, he was one of the most powerful among the Demonic Lords.
There were even tales that the head of the Destruction House, one of the top five, had to yield to Nordian.
And that was with less than eighty percent.
And then there was the first ancestor of the Dark Magic House.
He, who was said to be the first to accept the Dark Magi, absorbed over ninety percent of it and became the third-ranked Demon King.
But even that ancestor didn't absorb all one hundred percent.
So, what if one were to completely conquer all one hundred percent of the Dark Magi?
‘I could even surpass the Demon Emperor.’
Thanks to Sacred Black, Chris was able to formulate a plan to stand at the pinnacle of the Magitech Empire.
Chris took a breath.
And threw himself into the Sacred Black.
Pure darkness enveloped him as if in an embrace, and his form was soon completely consumed, disappearing into the shadows.
* * *
The Dark Magic House was in an uproar.
It was because of the results of the Sacred Black Ceremony.
Everyone except for one person had been eliminated.
Unbelievably, it was said to be the work of the scoundrel Christian.
“No way.”
“Young Master Roin was defeated by that scoundrel?”
“They say all the other young masters from the collateral branches were beaten too.”
“Is that even possible?”
The Majin chattered, dumbfounded.
Something that should have been impossible had happened.
No matter how skilled one was, there was a limit to fighting opponents of the same level.
But he single-handedly took down four competitors?
And it was that scoundrel?
Naturally, everyone reacted with disbelief.
“Didn't he cheat? Maybe he used a forbidden magic tool.”
“That's right. There's no way that scoundrel could beat Young Master Roin.”
“He must be properly investigated and severely punished!”
The Majin, assuming Christian had naturally used some kind of trick, excitedly called for punishment.
But then, an unexpected voice was heard.
“There's no need for that.”
“!!”
The Majin turned their heads in surprise.
“Second Princess!”
Was she in her late teens?
A beautiful girl with a cold expression.
It was the Second Princess, Jupien.
“There's no need to worry about that scoundrel Christian.”
“W-Why is that?”
The Majin looked confused.
The Second Princess Jupien and Roin were full siblings with a special bond. Unlike the other siblings, they cared for each other deeply.
And yet?
“Because he won't make it back from the Holy Land alive anyway.”
“……!!”
“He's trying to fill his vessel with more Sacred Black than it can hold. The end is obvious. He won't even leave a corpse behind.”
The Majin gulped.
‘Come to think of it.’
Two days had already passed since the Sacred Black Ceremony.
But Christian still hadn't emerged from the Holy Land.
“Even the Old Lord had his limits when absorbing Sacred Black. A scoundrel like him? His vessel is obvious. He might already be dead as a price for his greed. There's no need to worry about him anymore.”
The Majin nodded awkwardly.
The amount of Sacred Black that erupts every two to three years isn't large.
But it wasn't an amount that could be monopolized by a single person either.
A vessel like Old Lord Nordian's could absorb nearly eighty percent, but in ordinary cases, the most one could absorb was about sixty percent.
Any more than that, and one wouldn't be able to withstand it; their core would collapse, leading to death.
Jupien walked away with an indifferent expression. She was going to see Roin, who was lying unconscious.
‘How dare he.’
Jupien bit her red lip gently.
Roin and Jupien.
The two were of the direct line, but unlike their other siblings, their father was not Marquis Langham.
Their father had died in battle against those bastards from the Alliance, and they had grown up relying on each other.
And now, her cherished younger brother was in this state.
They said his life wasn't in danger, but Roin's future was now over.
Because he hadn't obtained even a sliver of Sacred Black. From now on, no one would treat Roin as part of the direct line.
‘I can't forgive him.’
Jupien's gaze grew heavy.
It was unlikely to happen, but.
If that scoundrel Christian did come back alive.
She would make him pay the price.
* * *
Several more days passed.
But Christian still did not emerge from the Holy Land.
The people of the Dark Magic House concluded that Christian had died in the Holy Land as a price for his greed.
Gradually, people's interest faded.
“Foolish bastard.”
“That's what he gets for being greedy without knowing his place.”
Except for one person.
There was someone waiting for Christian.
The banshee maid, Mari.
She lingered in the main building like a stone, waiting for Chris.
“…That ghost?”
“Looks like she's waiting for her master. How foolish, waiting for someone who won't return.”
“It'd be funny if they became ghosts together.”
Passersby snickered.
Then, Mari whipped around to face them.
For an instant, Mari's eyes flashed menacingly.
[Ohoho. Shut... up.]
“!!”
A chill ran down their spines, and the Majin gulped.
They were intermediate Majin of 3-Star or higher.
But meeting the banshee's gaze, their bodies froze, and they couldn't open their mouths.
‘How can a mere banshee have such an aura? Is she not an ordinary banshee?’
‘Could it be, that banshee is?’
Just then, Mari smiled faintly and wrapped her hands around their necks.
Being a ghost, there was no physical substance to her touch.
But it was even more chilling.
It felt as if their very souls were being grasped.
[Thump, thump... I'm waiting for the Young Master with a fluttering heart... If you keep making a fuss next to me, won't you be disturbing my pure devotion?]
“……”
[If I get upset, I might just pay you a visit at night... so please don't flap your filthy mouths, and just quietly shut up. Ohoho.]
A banshee visiting at night.
It meant she was coming to reap their souls.
The Majin, stiff with fear, could only nod their heads without a word.
After that, Mari waited for Christian without any further disturbance.
Endlessly.
* * *
Meanwhile, Christian was sinking endlessly into the darkness.
‘How much time has passed?’
I don't know.
My sense of time was unclear.
All I could feel was a deep darkness.
A darkness endlessly pure, without any blemish or stain.
A darkness so pure it was almost holy enveloped him.
But it wasn't a comforting feeling.
Just as water that is too clean can be harmful to fish, this purity was so absolute that it felt overwhelming.
‘Can I truly make it all mine?’
A considerable amount of time had passed since he began absorbing the Sacred Black.
Christian started to feel a little worried.
He had expected it to be difficult, but it was even more formidable than he had anticipated.
‘Up to about sixty percent wasn't difficult.’
Even seventy percent was easy.
But once he passed seventy percent, it started to become overwhelming.
He could vaguely understand why Old Lord Nordian hadn't reached eighty percent.
From seventy percent onward, the strain increased exponentially. Eighty percent felt impossibly distant.
If eighty percent was like that, what about ninety? And what about the full one hundred percent that was Chris's ultimate goal?
‘But I have to do it. Otherwise, there's no chance of victory.’
Sacred Black was a great power.
Ordinary magi was 'fuel' for using black magic and demonic arts.
You stored it in your core and used it when needed.
But Sacred Black isn't stored in the core. Nor is it a power you draw upon when needed, like magi.
Its use was entirely different from other magi.
Sacred Black was a power that changed the owner's constitution.
To be precise, it affects the core, altering the properties of one's magi.
The attribute of the magi changes into what is called 'Dark Magi'.
‘This is why Sacred Black is also called Dark Magi. Though strictly speaking, they're slightly different.’
Coincidentally, if you accept ten percent of the erupted Sacred Black, exactly ten percent of your magi's properties will change.
Accept twenty percent, and twenty percent changes.
Accept fifty percent, fifty percent changes.
Seventy percent means seventy percent.
In other words, if he accepts all one hundred percent, the attribute of Chris's magi will completely transform into Dark Magi.
And Dark Magi stands superior to all other attributes of magi.
To explain the meaning of that precisely, it's like this.
Originally, there are many types of magi attributes.
Ash-colored, yellow-hued, blood-hued, red-hued, and so on.
Each type of magi had corresponding black magic and demonic arts it was suited for. One had to master the arts that matched their aptitude to display their proper power.
Curse-based black magic used ash-colored magi.
Blood Arts used blood-hued magi.
Destruction-based black magic used red-hued magi.
And so on.
If you didn't master the magi of the correct attribute, you could at best exert a power far less than even fifty percent of its potential.
There was also a limit to reaching higher levels.
But Dark Magi has no such restrictions.
Dark Magi is a power that stands superior to all magi.
It ignores attributes.
It allows one to use any kind of black magic or demonic art without restriction.
The higher the purity of the Dark Magi, the stronger this effect becomes.
If one achieves about fifty percent purity, they can apparently exert about 70% of the power compared to those who have mastered the native attribute magi.
At sixty percent purity, it's about 80%.
It was an incredible thing.
‘In the case of Old Lord Nordian, whose Dark Magi purity is close to eighty percent, they say he can use all types of power at a level nearly equal to those who have mastered the native magi.’
And that's with less than eighty percent.
What about over ninety percent?
It's said to be possible to exert even greater power than those who have mastered the native magi.
And one hundred percent?
No one knows.
Because no one has yet achieved it.
The speculation was that there might be some kind of unknown effect.
What was certain was that for Chris to stand at the pinnacle of the Magitech Empire, he had to make this Sacred Black completely his own.
‘Let's see who wins.’
He opened his core wide.
There was no special method for accepting the Sacred Black.
You throw your body into the Sacred Black, and it automatically gets absorbed into the core, transforming the nature of your magi.
However, if you exceed the capacity of your vessel, the core begins to collapse. Eventually, your body is devoured by the Sacred Black, and you meet your death.
Therefore, the rule was to get out immediately if you felt your limit during absorption.
In Chris's case, he felt a serious sense of crisis upon passing eighty percent.
‘It's dangerous, but not yet. I can definitely endure up to ninety percent.’
Chris gritted his teeth and endured.
This was only possible because Chris's vessel was so large it couldn't even be compared to Old Lord Nordian's.
The problem started after ninety percent.