Chapter 73
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: The Black Steel Aura and a Box of Chocolates
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Roughly three months later.
When the Grand Contest was just around the corner.
Chris’s eyes shot open.
He blinked for a moment.
‘How much time has passed?’
For the past three months.
Chris had kept a strict routine.
He learned various demonic arts and black magic, elevating his star level while dedicating any spare time to researching the Black Steel Aura.
Thanks to his steady training, he had reached the middle of the 3-Star level, and his proficiency in various black magic and demonic arts had grown by leaps and bounds.
To reach the middle of the 3-Star level in less than three months. To be precise, he was at the very peak of the middle stage. The stage just before ascending to the upper 3-Star level.
It was an insane pace, but he had been feeling frustrated because the key to the Black Steel Aura remained elusive.
The moment of enlightenment arrived.
Without any warning.
He had fallen into a trance and had only just now opened his eyes.
‘Has it been about two days?’
It felt like he'd only closed his eyes for a moment, yet two days had passed.
He couldn't remember it clearly.
He only remembered endlessly chasing something.
A thread that he just couldn't grasp.
And the moment he snatched that thread with his 'will,' his senses snapped back.
Chris checked his condition.
He lightly circulated his demonic energy.
‘This is?’
Chris wore a shocked expression.
He had reached the upper 3-Star level!
An achievement far faster than he had anticipated.
Moreover, something even more important had happened.
Chris instinctively opened his hand.
The Black Sword materialized.
That wasn't the end of it.
Chris gazed at the Black Sword.
*Fwoosh!*
To the naked eye, there was no significant change.
It was still the Black Sword.
But Chris could tell.
That his will was now imbued within the Black Sword.
His Black Sword had now transcended its simple physical properties to become a weapon that manifested his will upon the world.
‘Still, it's too much to use recklessly. Imbuing it with will consumes a lot of demonic energy. As for its power, compared to the Black Steel Aura used by a true 5-Star Majin... is it about half as strong?’
Half the power of a Black Steel Aura. It was an immense force.
A power unimaginably strong for a Majin who hadn't yet escaped the confines of the 3-Star level.
‘And it's not just the Black Steel Aura I can handle now.’
In an instant, Chris's physical constitution changed.
The energy of darkness vanished, and a clear energy of light circulated through his body.
And then.
*Fshhh!*
An aura of light, a power on the same level as the Black Steel Aura, surged from Chris's hand!
He had become able to use the 'Aura Blade'.
‘As for my Starlight level, does this mean I've become a provisional 5-Star?’
This didn't mean he had become a 5-Star.
Although still at the 4-Star level, when one surpasses the limits of 4-Star and can faintly wield an aura, it's expressed with the term 'provisional'.
If a 5-Star could faintly handle 'Will-Thought', they would be a provisional 6-Star, and so on.
The term originated from military ranks, where someone who hadn't been formally promoted but was performing the duties of a position would be called, for example, an 'Acting Centurion'. It was derived from that.
In other words, while he hadn't yet surpassed the confines of 4-Star, he now had one foot in the 5-Star realm.
He had grown even stronger in terms of the Alliance's power scale as well.
‘Thankfully, my timing is perfect.’
Chris looked at the calendar.
One week until the Grand Contest. He had just enough time.
“Mari? Are you there?”
[Young Master?]
Mari, who phased through the wall, came to a sudden halt.
[Somehow... thump-thump... watta... you seem even cooler?]
She had instinctively sensed that Chris had grown stronger.
“Anything happen these past two days?”
[Nothing major. Ah... I did some research on the First Princess, Yurian.]
At those words, Chris's eyes gleamed.
The First Princess was his most dangerous competitor.
This was important.
“Does Princess Yurian have some kind of special past?”
Demon Contractors often had unique backstories.
Especially painful and deeply despairing ones.
After all, what demons covet are souls that once shone brilliantly before suffering a terrible fate and falling into despair.
When a wounded, tattered soul wails in misery, demons gladly offer their 'blessing'.
If Yurian was such a case, she must have experienced a noteworthy event in her past.
However.
[They say... there was nothing special at all?]
“Hmm?”
[Princess Yurian... was born the youngest daughter of Marquis Langham and his former wife... and was said to have grown up receiving lavish care. She apparently never experienced anything painful... not at all.]
A well-bred noble lady.
That was the entirety of Princess Yurian's past that Mari had investigated.
“Is that so?”
Chris looked surprised.
‘If there's no special reason to make a pact with a demon, did she do it simply out of greed?’
If that was the case, there was little to worry about. Those who contracted with demons out of greed had clear limits to their power.
But somehow, that didn't seem right.
It was a gut feeling.
‘...There must be something. Something her family doesn't know.’
It seemed he would have to spend more time looking into it.
But then, Mari mentioned something unexpected.
[Ah... come to think of it, they say there was one strange thing.]
“What is it?”
[Princess Yurian's personality is said to have changed in an instant.]
Mari tilted her innocently pretty face.
[About five years ago...? After suffering a fever for a few days, she supposedly became a completely different person. Originally, Princess Yurian... was a notorious villainess, infamous for being incredibly cruel to her subordinates. But from that point on, she changed completely. They say she matured entirely and developed a warm personality.]
Chris blinked his eyes.
It was a strange story.
Her personality changed after a fever?
‘For now, I'll have to keep a closer eye on Princess Yurian.’
Chris shook his head.
He still had far too little information to make a clear judgment.
“Alright, good work.”
[Watta...?]
“Yes, watta.”
Mari gave a bashful, innocent smile, and Chris brought up another topic.
“I have one more favor to ask. Could you find Ruina... no, Merchant Lord Rubid of the Rudolph Merchant Guild and deliver a letter I've written?”
This was the guild he had extorted money from during the artifact expedition.
[By any chance... what for?]
“Ah. I have a separate favor to ask of the guild.”
Chris grinned.
The reason was obvious.
To extort more money.
‘I need another large sum of money for the plan I have in mind.’
Chris glanced out the window.
Beyond the mansion. Toward the Old Lord's villa.
That's right.
Chris planned to use the Old Lord to decorate the finale of this Grand Contest.
* * *
A few days later.
The Old Lord's villa.
Merian and Nordian were having a conversation.
“Christian, what has that boy been up to?”
Merian hid her surprise.
For the past three months.
Nordian had been asking about Christian's activities every so often.
An interest he had never shown for any of the other young lords before.
“There have been no particular changes. He is learning and mastering black magic and demonic arts from the family's tutors.”
“...I see. And that child, Fresia, is she still the same?”
“Yes, she is using her authority to isolate Christian.”
The Old Lord clicked his tongue.
A hint of displeasure was visible.
Directed at Fresia for her petty tactics?
No, it was for Christian, who was meekly submitting to unfair treatment without a word of complaint.
This was not the kind of behavior Nordian expected from Christian.
“Perhaps I expected too much. To see him just taking it so helplessly. I thought he was a lion cub, but he might just be an empty husk.”
An overly harsh assessment.
But from the side, Simon suddenly interjected.
“He might not be helpless.”
“Then?”
“Perhaps he's sharpening his claws?”
“Christian, that boy?”
“Yes. If that ill-tempered Young Master is being this quiet, shouldn't we assume he's aiming for something?”
Nordian narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Bloodsucker, you know something more.”
Simon just grinned.
“It's just a feeling that something interesting is about to happen. We vampires are much more wary of an opponent's silence.”
The Old Lord tutted.
As his anger seemed to subside, fortunately, Merian carefully presented a box.
“What is that?”
“It is a gift from Christian for you, my Lord.”
“...For me? A gift?”
“...Yes. He said it is a gift from him as your grandson, a token of gratitude for your past teachings.”
Yesterday.
Christian had secretly come to Merian and asked her to deliver the gift box to the Old Lord.
‘...I'm worried this might backfire.’
Merian felt her own heart pound with anxiety.
It seemed as if Nordian would erupt in anger the moment he saw the gift box.
“What a useless gesture...”
As expected, the reaction was not good.
Before Christian could get on his bad side even more, Merian quickly withdrew the gift box.
“I will have this returned. I will make sure to firmly educate him so that he never does something like this again...”
“No, that's fine.”
“...Pardon?”
“Give it to me.”
Merian dazedly held out the gift box.
The Old Lord still had a deep frown on his face, as if displeased.
‘I told him to get stronger, and he's wasting time with this.’
But the Old Lord decided to accept the gift for one reason.
A single phrase written on the box.
- I am certain this is a gift you will be satisfied with.
The Old Lord let out a dry laugh.
‘The sheer audacity.’
He decided to accept the gift because of that absurd phrase.
With the thought of at least seeing what kind of gift it was.
Opening it, he found chocolates.
“...What is this?”
“...He said he prepared them himself after hearing that you enjoy chocolates, my Lord.”
Nordian's gaze turned icy.
Merian broke out in a cold sweat.
‘Damn it, why would that reckless brat Christian do something like this.’
She was more anxious now than when reporting a failed mission.
It felt like Nordian was about to incinerate the chocolates with his demonic energy and summon Christian for a severe reprimand.
To her immense relief, Nordian did not summon his demonic energy.
- I am certain this is a gift you will be satisfied with.
It was because of this phrase.
‘He wouldn't think I'd be satisfied with mere chocolates.’
Of course, it was true that Nordian liked chocolates.
But no matter how heavenly they tasted, there was no way Nordian would be satisfied with this gift.
What he wanted from Christian was not something like this.
But the boy couldn't be ignorant of that, so why would he do this?
While he was angry, he was also curious what absurd idea that cunning boy had to pull such a stunt.
He glared fiercely at the chocolates before picking one up with his fingers and putting it in his mouth.
With the thought that if they were truly nothing more than tasty chocolates, he would have to give the boy a stern scolding.
The moment the soft texture touched his tongue.
An exquisite sensation traveled up his sense of taste.
A taste as if crafted by the finest patissier at the peak of their skill.
But Nordian frowned.
‘He made this himself? As a young lord, he was wasting his time with cooking?’
It was the moment he swallowed the chocolate with a sense of disappointment.
An unimaginable twist occurred.
*Fwoosh!*
Nordian's vision changed.
‘...An illusion?’
It was not the scene of the villa.
A vast plain.
The sight of the Dark Magic House's main castle, soaring high.
A figure was standing there.