FANSiA Originals and KakaoPage
I Became the Genius Bastard of a Noble Dark Clan
[Author/Original: Yuin]
[TL: Dekor]
[PR: Spades]
Episode 33
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At the moment he stabbed with the dagger earlier, Chris had a Gray Pill hidden inside his palm, procured in advance. When he extracted the Black Pill, he swapped them. A sleight-of-hand trick. Having once been a legendary pickpocket, such feats were child's play.
'Heh. Consuming this Black Pill should fix my mana deficiency somewhat.'
Chris wore a satisfied look.
Meanwhile, Alos and the other mages stared at him in stunned silence, mouths agape. Even having witnessed it, they couldn't believe what Chris had done.
"Too tired to speak, huh?"
"!!"
"So, Alos. Still think I'm unfit for the Black Sanctification?"
Alos's face flushed. He'd slandered Chris as unworthy, though it was less his opinion and more the manipulation of 'Roin de Barron,' a direct heir of the Dark Mana Clan. Still, he had no retort.
To the speechless Alos, Chris smirked.
"Come on, call me big brother."
"What?"
"You promised, didn't you? Help you, and you'd call me big brother."
"That's absurd!"
"Hoh, reneging on a promise? The Tyramine family's honor is cheap."
"When did I promise that?! And I'm two years older than you!"
"Age doesn't matter between brothers. The weak one's the little brother."
Chris shrugged, but suddenly, the chamber fell silent. Everyone froze, lips sealed.
No one ordered it.
They felt a sudden killing intent.
A chilling, almost abyssal malice began to fill the chamber.
'What's that?'
Chris's eyes widened.
The source of the killing intent was clear.
The altar.
No, the Gehenna rift.
Beyond the sealed rift, a suffocating wave of evil surged, as if it might burst any moment.
'Insane.'
Chris swallowed hard. Cold sweat beaded on his clenched fists.
He knew this phenomenon well.
'Something from Gehenna is trying to cross over!'
A phenomenon he'd experienced countless times in the era of ruin.
'Why? The array's intact.'
He looked baffled.
And then—
*Boom.*
A tremor shook the chamber, like an earthquake.
The rift's energy erupted, warping space and scrambling everyone's vision.
Malice.
A sinister force, distinct from mana.
A viscous evil filled the chamber, and with a mist-like haze, a horrific being descended.
Tall and imposing.
Three pairs of horns on its forehead.
Four arms.
A demonic face, human yet alien.
A 'demonkin,' a servant of demons.
---
'Insane, a demonkin?'
The world held two types of transcendent beings.
The 'constellations' of the Celestial Realm and the 'demons' of Gehenna.
Symbols of justice and evil, respectively.
Demonkin were the demons' minions.
'Damn it. Why's a demonkin popping up here?'
Chris paled at the unexpected crisis.
As a mage, wasn't he allied with demonkin?
A misconception.
The Magic Empire's mages pursued the power of darkness. Their values revered strength and supremacy, distinctly separate from evil.
Sure, some mages worshipped demons, but just as not all outsiders served constellations, only a fraction of mages revered demons.
Demon worship led to horrific ruin, so most mages were wary of them.
'What happened? Did someone tamper with the array?'
He couldn't tell.
No time to leisurely investigate either.
The demonkin turned, looking down at them.
[Human vermin…]
"!!"
Chris gritted his teeth.
The demonkin's aura, laced with corrupting evil, was unbearable for the weak-willed.
Most guardian mages trembled in terror, unable to withstand it.
Only Alos, the strongest among them, remained somewhat composed.
Chris spoke boldly.
"What's a Gehenna being doing here? Don't you fear the pact with the Celestial Realm? Return to Gehenna at once!"
The demonkin's eyes glinted briefly.
[You know of the pact between Gehenna and the Celestial Realm?]
"…"
Chris fell silent.
He knew it.
The pact barring demons and constellations from directly intervening in the Middle Realm.
But he also knew how hollow it was.
The demonkin pointed it out.
[Then you know I face no issue taking your vermin lives.]
"!!"
[This much amusement should be fine.]
The pact existed but wasn't strictly enforced.
A demonkin crossing the rift to kill a few humans was barely considered a breach.
'Damn it. What now?'
Chris clenched his fists.
A demonkin wasn't someone you could outwit easily.
'It's a lesser demonkin, but still far beyond my current level.'
Having seen countless demonkin in the era of ruin, Chris could gauge its rank.
Even a lesser one held power equivalent to a 5-star human mage.
As he scrambled for options, the demonkin said something unexpected.
[Killing you outright feels like dull sport.]
"What?"
[Such chances for amusement are rare.]
With a cruel smile, it spoke.
[You. How about a contract with me?]
"!!"
It pointed a single arm at Chris.
[Kill all the other humans with your hands and offer them to me. I'll spare your life and grant you my blessing.]
"!!"
The Tyramine mages' eyes widened, wavering.
Chris let out a hollow laugh.
'This bastard.'
The demonkin's motive was obvious.
Fun.
Demons and demonkin were such creatures.
Embodiments of pure evil.
They reveled in others' pain and suffering.
Chris glanced at Alos and the Tyramine mages.
Their faces were hopeless, despairing.
They assumed he'd take the deal.
There seemed no other way to survive.
But—
'The Tyramine lot aren't exactly my favorites.'
Far from it—they could die for all he cared.
Still, Chris spat on the ground.
"Shut up."
[…What?]
"Close your filthy mouth. I'm not doing it."
The Tyramine mages gaped.
Alos shouted, struggling.
"What are you doing?! You think we'll thank you for this?!"
"Should I just offer my neck to that demonkin then?"
Alos shut up, unable to respond.
Chris chuckled.
"Not for you guys. No matter how precious my life is, my creed is to never deal with Gehenna's ilk."
He meant it.
He vividly recalled how Gehenna's kind had turned the world into a hellscape.
No compromise, ever.
Besides—
'I've got one way.'
"Instead, how about a different wager?"
[Hm?]
The demonkin looked intrigued.
Its confidence stemmed from absolute power.
An ant's schemes couldn't topple a lion.
[What wager?]
"Hold on a sec."
Chris extended a hand toward the mages.
A curse spell activated.
[Curse of Slumber]
Already half-conscious under the malice's weight, the mages fell asleep instantly.
Except one. Alos, resisting with stronger mana, shouted in panic.
"Why?!"
Chris frowned.
For his plan, everyone needed to be out cold.
"Being awake under this malice is bad for you. Just sleep."
"No way…"
"Sleep."
*WHAM!*
Chris's fist knocked Alos out with a yelp.
He didn't stop there.
Pulling a dagger from his coat, he flung it like lightning.
*Thud!*
A bat in the chamber's corner was pierced.
Shockingly, it dissolved into blood mist.
Not a normal bat!
'I knew there were eyes watching.'
He'd sensed surveillance and left it be, guessing its source.
But not anymore.
What he'd do next couldn't be seen by anyone.
[Amusing. What's your scheme?]
The demonkin eyed him like a toy performing tricks.
"I, Christian, stake my soul on a wager. Take one hit from me. If you withstand it, I'll admit defeat and offer my soul."
[What? Hahaha! Are you sane?]
The demonkin roared with laughter.
[Fine. I accept. I won't counterattack, so hit me with whatever you've got.]
Its eyes gleamed with greed.
[But your soul will be mine. Even in death, you'll find no rest, forever my tortured plaything.]
A chilling prospect.
The fate of those who sold their souls to demons.
Better to die than accept, but Chris inwardly sighed in relief.
'Gotcha.'
Did the demonkin know?
It had fallen into his trap.
Chris had a way.
A single strike to fell it.
[No idea what you're plotting, but you're a fool.]
"We'll see who's the fool soon enough."
Chris pulled an item from his subspace pouch.
His trump card to turn the tide.
The demonkin's eyes widened.
[That's…?]
Its voice trembled.
No wonder.
A rusted, broken sword.
Chris held Grunade, the shattered holy sword.
Absolute bane of evil beings.
---
"Damn!"
In a forest far from the Forbidden Zone, the vampire Simon stood, voice laced with shock.
'He saw through my concealment?'
The bat Chris had struck was Simon's blood-crafted clone.
With it gone, he had no way to reach the cave.
'This is bad. I meant to stop the demonkin at the right moment.'
Simon had summoned it.
But he hadn't intended to let Chris die.
It was a "prank."
He was curious how Chris would react under pressure and planned to step in before disaster struck, but his plan unraveled.
At this rate, Chris and everyone there would die by the demonkin's hand.