Chapter 64
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: A Calculated Victory
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He dodged every incoming attack a step ahead, countering by predicting the masked woman's path.
‘This isn't working.’
It was impossible to subdue her like this while hiding his true techniques.
He had to use his real power.
‘At this rate, I have no choice. I'll just have to kill them all to silence them.’
The masked woman's eyes turned venomous.
Fwaaa!!!
A dense pillar of destruction erupted from the dagger.
A Black Aura Blade.
A holy sword without radiant mana would not be able to withstand that destructive power.
“Die.”
A desperate situation.
Jupien, who was watching the fight with Marisa, cried out involuntarily.
“Dodge...!!”
But Chris did the unexpected.
He charged toward the masked woman instead.
An act tantamount to suicide.
“How foolish.”
The masked woman swung her dagger.
A line of destruction roared with menacing force.
But in that moment, something incomprehensible happened.
Fwoosh.
As if a flame extinguished by the wind, the Black Aura Blade died out!
“?!”
The masked woman was greatly flustered.
‘Why?’
It wasn't what she intended.
Chris smiled slyly and leaped toward her.
“That's what happens when your aura mastery is low.”
An aura blade is the manifestation of will.
The power and stability of the aura blade change depending on how strong one's will is.
Based on the firmness of that will, even the 5-Star level is divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers.
The masked woman's level was 5-Star, lower tier.
The stage where one has just begun to establish their will.
At this point, it's difficult to maintain the aura blade with will alone, so one must employ various complex techniques.
Chris had already tampered with those techniques.
How?
‘I used the dominating power of Dark Magi.’
During the previous exchange, Chris wasn't just pushing the masked woman back with his holy sword.
He had secretly embedded his dominating power into the dagger she held.
So that the moment the aura blade manifested, it would disrupt the core circuit and throw it into disarray.
It was a one-time trick, possible only because the masked woman was careless and difficult to use again, but it was enough.
Chris did not miss the opportunity.
Slice!
The masked woman's shoulder was cut.
It wasn't a deep blow.
A strike that could be ignored.
But the problem was that Chris's sword was a holy sword.
The power of the Constellation dwelling in the holy sword clashed with the magi in her body, causing secondary damage. It was like being burned by a fire that wouldn't go out.
Her core also wavered.
And there was an even more important fact.
“Bingo.”
Chris glanced at the holy sword and grinned.
He had obtained her blood.
Leaping back to create distance, he cast a curse.
Using the opponent's blood as a medium made it possible to cast a much stronger curse.
Exhaustion, pain, weakness, fear, and so on.
The masked woman's body staggered from all sorts of curses seeping into her.
‘Hah. How can such low-level curses have this much power?’
The masked woman was dumbfounded.
The curses Chris cast were all 2-Star or lower.
Curses so pathetic they normally wouldn't have even penetrated her body.
Yet, like curses cast by a professional high-level caster, they skillfully pierced her magi defense and broke down her body's condition as if dragging it into a swamp.
Chris's attacks continued.
A sudden flash, a strike grazing her neck, sent a chill down her spine.
The masked woman gritted her teeth.
‘How dare he.’
Not that the masked woman was in any real danger.
A tiger doesn't fall just because it's been scratched a few times by a cat's claws.
But her pride was wounded.
‘I'll kill you without dragging this out any further.’
The masked woman used her secret poison.
Fwoosh!
Black smoke enveloped Chris.
It wasn't a simple physical poison that harmed the body.
It was a magic poison imbued with magical effects.
A poison that used the energy of destruction black magic to break down the body from the outside and inside simultaneously.
“Christian!”
When Chris was covered in the black smoke, Marisa cried out in surprise.
She knew the power of that poison.
It wasn't a poison one could withstand even with an antidote from the Divine Doctor Noble Family.
But inside the black smoke, Chris thought.
‘It's going according to my plan.’
An incomprehensible thought.
Even Chris couldn't withstand this magic poison.
Being a magic poison, the antidote from the Divine Doctor Noble Family he had prepared wouldn't work.
The defensive magic tool that blocked poison was also useless. It was corroding quickly and clearly wouldn't last long.
Five seconds, at most.
After that time, he would die.
But despite that, he smiled.
‘I've finally got my chance.’
Chris had actually been anxious.
What would he do if the masked woman didn't move as he intended?
Yes.
He had been waiting all this time for the masked woman to use her magic poison.
“You were impressive for a brat. But you didn't know your place. Die in agony.”
A relaxed voice, as if certain of Chris's death.
But did she know?
That this was the moment Chris had been eagerly waiting for.
From the very beginning of the fight until now.
Chris had waited for this moment.
The moment the magic poison would spread and obscure her vision.
The magic poison didn't just obscure vision.
The magic poison was filled with magi and magical energy.
The meaning of that was this:
Disturbed by the energy contained within the poison, it was difficult for those outside to sense what was happening inside.
Visually and sensorially.
In other words.
Even if he used the power of the Alliance, no one outside would notice.
Chris moved the holy sword.
His hand trembled.
The masked woman sneered.
She didn't even think of dodging in advance.
She watched with the leisure of observing a cat's antics, planning to dodge lightly at the last second, but her body suddenly froze.
[Giant's Bind]
It was a 4-Star curse black magic.
A curse that was still unusable at Chris's level.
But Chris had modified this black magic in advance to use as a decisive move.
He had made the activation conditions stricter so that it could be used even at the 3-Star level.
The additional condition Chris set was the opponent's ‘blood’.
That's right.
The various curses from before were a feint.
The real reason he'd drawn blood with the holy sword was to use this black magic.
To bind the woman's movements for a brief moment.
Of course, it wouldn't last long.
Two to three seconds, at most.
Within that time, the masked woman would break the curse.
But that brief moment was enough.
For the sword to reach her heart.
Even so, the masked woman didn't panic.
“You've used your head quite a bit, but it's a pity.”
A dark blue magi covered her body.
Like a shield.
Even a holy sword would not be able to pierce it.
But then, something unbelievable happened.
Paaat!
Light erupted from the holy sword.
The masked woman's eyes widened as if they would tear.
“Sh...ine Blade?”
It was faint, but unmistakable.
The power of light said to be used by the Hero.
Chris gave a sardonic smile.
“...Because I'm a genius.”
The masked woman tried to dodge, but it was useless. The Giant's Bind she had yet to break held her fast.
The broken holy sword pierced the masked woman's heart.
* * *
The two houses were thrown into an uproar by what happened that day.
Because one side had broken the agreement and tried to annihilate the Dark Magic House's exploration team.
The atmosphere between the two houses soured to the worst possible state, and the Extreme Poison House, which had committed the wrongdoing, found itself in a difficult position.
‘To be honest, it's unfair to the Extreme Poison House.’
Marquis Langham was the one behind this incident.
There was an internal collaborator, but Marquis Langham probably extended his dark hand first.
Everyone was dancing in the palm of Marquis Langham's hand.
‘Still, it's better than my past life. That was the worst-case scenario.’
When the entire force of the Dark Magic House was annihilated, and it was revealed to be the work of Marisa, a successor candidate of the Extreme Poison House, the two houses went to the brink of war.
In the end, the Extreme Poison House had to admit its guilt and hand over the 'Twilight Amulet' that Marquis Langham demanded.
‘But this time, the situation is different.’
The damage was minor.
Even those with serious injuries saved their lives thanks to the elixirs from the Divine Doctor Noble Family that Chris appropriately handed out.
Therefore, the Extreme Poison House's responsibility was bound to be much lighter.
Reparations.
That was all.
‘I couldn't identify the masked woman, but well, that doesn't really matter.’
The moment her heart was pierced, the masked woman's body melted away in poison.
She did it herself to avoid revealing her identity. A common method used by the Majin of the Extreme Poison House.
‘Still, it seems Marisa has a rough idea of her identity. Well, that's an internal affair for the Extreme Poison House, so they'll handle it.’
In any case, it was a good outcome for everyone. Except for Marquis Langham.
Among them, the one who profited the most was, of course, Chris.
‘This should be enough to become a Young Lord.’
If not for Chris, the exploration team would have been annihilated.
Becoming a Young Lord was a certainty.
And what he gained from this incident wasn't just the qualification to be a Young Lord.
‘I obtained the Crest of the Constellation.’
Chris secretly caressed the artifact hidden in his pocket.
In truth, the Crest of the Constellation is an artifact with an ambiguous identity.
An item whose purpose is completely unknown.
In fact, in his previous life, Marquis Langham obtained the Crest but couldn't figure out how to use it for two years.
But Chris knew exactly what abilities the Crest of the Constellation possessed.
It was an artifact that would be of enormous help to him.
No, in this world, only Chris could properly utilize the Crest of the Constellation.
Plus, there were other small benefits.
- “We apologize for everything until now, Young Master.”
The surviving Majin of the exploration team bowed their heads to Chris.
- “You are our benefactor, Young Master. Thank you so much.”
For the first time, he was acknowledged by the Majin of the Main House.
Though it was still faint.
Just then, Mari, the banshee ghost maid, drifted over gracefully.
[Ohoho... Are you feeling alright?]
“It hurts.”
[To hear that the Young Master is in pain, my heart aches. But, to be able to nurse you so tenderly, my heart is going pitter-patter. I'll give you some soup, so please say 'ah'.]
“...I can eat it myself, you know?”
[Ohoho... You don't have to be shy about my touch. Of course, this cute side of you is also lovely. Say 'ah'. Ah.]
Chris scowled fiercely.
‘Stop trying to feed me via poltergeist phenomenon?!’
Mari is a ghost.
So, even though it looks like she's holding a spoon, it's all being lifted by psychic phenomena.
[Ahh... To have the Young Master all to myself. I wish this moment could last forever.]
“...Could you please not say such horrible things?”
Just then, a knock came from the door.
Mari's face soured.
[Again... It seems a bothersome person has arrived.]
“......”
It was just a knock, but he had a feeling he knew who it was.
Because this person had already visited several times.
[Why on earth does she keep coming to interrupt my cozy time with the Young Master? I don't like it.]
Mari gave a chilling smile and opened the door.
A small girl with a cold impression entered.
It was Jupien.
“...You're here?”
“Yes.”
“...Why again?”
“...You're my squad member. As the person in charge, I came to see if you were okay.”
For the record, their mission wasn't over yet. The incident hadn't been concluded.
The two of them were at the meeting place between the Extreme Poison House and the Dark Magic House to testify as witnesses.