FANSiA Originals and KakaoPage
I Became the Genius Bastard of a Noble Dark Clan
[Author/Original: Yuin]
[TL: Dekor]
[PR: Spades]
Episode 43
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Roin assumed Christian was barely 2-star low.
Reasonable.
It hadn't even been a month since Christian announced his 2-star status to the main house.
His impressive show yesterday and today still had clear 2-star low limits.
'Hope he gets crippled.'
Roin thought cruelly.
This was the Shadow Dimension.
No one but the challengers.
Accidental deaths were common.
'Shame I can't see him suffer.'
Beasts kept appearing, but Roin didn't stop.
Boom! Bang!
His mana-wrapped fists obliterated them.
'Naturally, I'll be first.'
Arriving faster than others meant more Sacred Darkness.
His current pace was surely far ahead of the branch rabble.
Finally, the space changed.
The surroundings darkened further.
The sanctum where Sacred Darkness erupted.
'As expected, I'm the fastest. Now to absorb—'
As he approached triumphantly, an unexpected voice rang out.
"You're late. What took you so long?"
"!!!"
Roin's eyes widened to tearing.
Ahead.
A figure sat in the darkness.
Christian.
As if napping, he yawned and rose.
"Waiting nearly bored me to death."
"You… how are you here so fast?"
"Fast?"
Christian tilted his head.
"It was nothing. How lazy is your training if these beasts slowed you down?"
"What… nonsense…!"
Roin roared.
Christian's path was rigged with 2-demon mid-grade or higher beasts.
Even Roin couldn't breeze through those, so how?
"Anyway, it's just us. You know no one's here to help in the Shadow Dimension, right?"
"…What's that mean?"
Christian's demeanor shifted.
A cold smile.
"Time to teach you some manners, you bastard."
---
Roin's face hardened.
"What… did you call me?"
"You're slow. Time for a beating."
"You're insane."
Roin's eyes chilled.
He didn't know how Christian cleared the trials so fast. Incomprehensible, but that didn't matter now.
"Clashing during the Black Sanctification is taboo… but no choice. I'll crush you, even if it costs me."
No fool fought during the ritual.
Starting absorption early maximized Sacred Darkness.
Fighting delayed it, a fatal loss.
But Chris sneered.
"Worry about loss? You won't get a speck today."
"…What?"
"Not just you. No challenger but me will get any. Not a grain."
He meant it.
Christian planned to monopolize the Sacred Darkness.
'Share this treasure? I'd rather take it all.'
How?
Crush everyone.
Start absorbing first?
Why bother?
Knock them all out and take it leisurely.
He'd been waiting to subdue every competitor.
"…Thought you were just trash. You're mad too. Fine."
Roin barked a laugh.
Mana surged from him.
"I'll snap you out of it. Don't blame me if an arm or leg breaks."
He thrust his hand, and boom! A fiery explosion erupted before Chris.
Destructive dark magic.
Thick black smoke clouded the already dim view.
Flash!
Roin vanished, seizing the moment.
Speed unthinkable for a 2-star mage!
His crimson eyes glinted.
The fog blinded him, but no matter.
He sensed mana.
Pinpointing Chris's position, Roin struck.
His specialty: close-combat martial arts.
Especially joint locks.
He never missed at this range.
'First, the wrist.'
Roin's face gleamed with cruelty.
No mercy now.
He'd shatter every joint, starting with the wrist.
Chris pulled his right hand back to dodge, but too late.
Dark magic flowed like water.
A binding spell to restrain Chris.
Snap.
Roin grabbed his wrist, twisting to break it.
"Foolish."
A cold voice cut through.
"…What?"
A chill ran down Roin's spine.
Instinctive dread.
Snap.
Chris's right hand slipped free.
Unaffected by the binding spell.
'How?'
No time to think.
Chris reversed the grip, seizing Roin's wrist.
Roin, eyes wide, couldn't comprehend.
Simple in principle.
A basic joint-lock counter, followed by a lock.
But execution varied by skill.
Chris's move was more elegant, superior to Roin's clan secret techniques.
A masterful feat that would've awed martial experts.
Roin, unable to dodge despite watching, paled.
He realized what came next.
"W-wait—"
Too late.
"No crying if it hurts."
Chris applied force.
Crack.
The sound of breaking bone.
"AAAAAARGH!!!!"
A scream echoed.
Sadly, just the start.
The lesson began.
---
Chris dusted his hands.
Roin lay unconscious, a broken heap.
Not dead.
'Killing's too much.'
Instead, he ensured no future trouble.
He damaged Roin's core.
Just 'slightly.'
Enough to seem like duel injuries.
Main house elders couldn't complain.
But subtly done to hinder recovery.
It'd seem minor, but proper healing would take at least five years.
A trick only Chris, with his medical expertise, could pull.
Practically a death sentence.
Five years behind in competition.
By then, Chris would be untouchable.
'By then… the Dark Mana Clan will be under my feet.'
A vow others would doubt.
Chris was fifteen.
His realm, 2-star.
Five years to seize the clan?
But he could.
He had to.
Five years hence, the First Great War with the Light Faction loomed.
Time was short.
'The First War's unavoidable. But I must minimize damage.'
The Light Faction suffered heavily in the First War.
It led to their defeat in the Second, and ruin.
He had to change the future.
'To do that, I need all the Sacred Darkness.'
Chris subdued each arriving competitor with force.
"How…?"
They gaped in horror at his overwhelming power.
One-sided.
"Because I'm a genius. Won't hurt too much."
Thud!
The last, Alos, paled.
Roin and all challengers fell to Chris.
None lasted long.
How?
In the clan's long history, attempts to monopolize Sacred Darkness by defeating all rivals weren't new.
None succeeded.
Even the skilled faced 2-star peers, making solo dominance impossible.
But Chris operated on another level.
Like an adult against children.
So dominant.
How could 2-stars differ so much?
Chris kindly explained.
"You're idiots."
"…What?"
"You have power but don't know how to use it. Big movements, wasted mana, misapplied dark magic."
Half-true, half-false.
His raw power wasn't vastly superior.
Same 2-star.
Stronger, but not this dominant.
Yet his efficiency—movements, mana flow, timing, dark magic application—was leagues beyond.
At 2-star, such finesse was rare.
Not just talent; low attainment meant clumsy execution.
Chris was the anomaly.
"So, what'll it be? Pass out quietly, or try me?"
Alos wept inwardly.
'Damn. Why'd I join? Should've delayed.'
No backing out now.
Gritting his teeth, he charged.
"I haven't been idle since we last met. Brace yourself!"
Thud!
Alos shrieked and collapsed.
One hit.
A kindness, given their bond.
All competitors lay unconscious.
Chris went further, casting dark magic to keep them down.
Meticulously, powerfully.
They'd sleep for at least a week.
'Now to absorb the Sacred Darkness.'
He turned.
Sacred Darkness.
So deep, it felt holy.
The thick darkness beckoned, rippling.
Chris walked slowly toward it.
He reached out, touching the pulsing shadow.