Surviving as the Fallen Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 17: Flames (2)

That night, Krisha simply went to sleep as usual.

She turned onto her right side, just like always.

Although Erina Trotsky, who had been telling her bedtime stories for the past two weeks, was no longer there…

‘I am an academy student. So I can sleep alone.’

Encouraging herself with those words, she bravely went to sleep.

And then…

Swoosh.

Krisha woke up the moment she fell asleep.

Thud.

The small child got up and stepped down from the bed.

Without even putting on her slippers, she slowly opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

If someone asked why she had started wandering the halls at this late hour, even Krisha herself wouldn’t have been able to answer.

So—

“What is a student doing outside at this hour?”

The dormitory supervisor, who spotted her wandering, asked in a strict tone.

But no answer came back.

Krisha simply stood there silently, staring blankly.

The supervisor approached her, intending to reprimand this troublesome student who had been wandering around since her first day in the dormitory.

However—

Flinch.

The moment the supervisor met Krisha’s gaze, a shiver ran down their spine.

And for good reason—

Saaaaaa—

The eyes of this mere ten-year-old child were glowing red, overflowing with eerie light.

“S-Student?”

Krisha ignored the supervisor entirely and kept walking.

Swoosh.

Fwoooosh!

Flames burst uncontrollably from both of her hands.

Kwooooom!

The fire spread explosively, engulfing everything in its path.

It spread as if it intended to burn the entire world, soon consuming the entire dormitory building.

And at last—

Step.

The fire paved the way for Krisha to leave the dormitory safely.

< Child, come to me. >

There was likely nothing in this world that could block the voice echoing in Krisha’s head at that moment.

The common folk of this cold and harsh land were unprepared for something like this.

Step. Step.

Leaving the burning dormitory behind, Krisha continued walking.

< That’s right, child. Come this way. >

The voice kept calling to her, and without any awareness, she simply followed as if entranced.

And when she finally stepped beyond the outer wall, about to enter the cold, desolate wasteland—

Thud!

A large, rough hand grabbed her and pulled her back.

Swoosh.

With vacant eyes, the child looked up at the owner of the hand.

And there—

Stood a man greater in size than anyone in this land and stronger than anything else.

His low voice echoed across the wasteland.

“Let’s go, Krisha. And…”

Saaaa—

Johan gritted his teeth as he looked past Krisha’s dazed eyes.

“You’re coming too, you damn bastard.”

“I knew this would happen.”

I had expected this outcome, whether sooner or later, because it was obvious what those bastards were up to.

Walking with Krisha in my arms, I recalled the books I had read during my days as the heir.

Back then, I used to lock myself in the ancient archives, reading out of sheer curiosity.

And as a result, I became fascinated with what people called occult literature.

After reading several books on demonology—books that could rightfully be called forbidden texts—I realized something.

‘Modern citizens of the Empire don’t even believe demons exist.’

It was a strange thing.

Setting aside the prohibition of demon worship, it made no sense that in an empire built upon divine power, people would deny the very possibility of demons existing.

After all, this world had magical beasts, auras, and even distant deities watching over the continent.

‘It was strange that only demons were denied.’

Eventually, after digging deeper into the archives, I discovered the reason.

The reason the empire’s people denied the existence of demons was—

Because from the early days of its founding, the Empire had deliberately erased all records of demons.

They systematically wiped out every mention of demons.

And after hundreds of years, people no longer even considered their existence anything more than an old myth.

Even in the ancient texts I read, all it said was, “In the beginning, there was a war between the gods and demons.”

There were no details beyond that.

It made it difficult to gather information, but ever since my transmigration, I had suspected that the ones driving this world toward destruction were these very demons.

More specifically, I suspected that the entity labeled as the ‘Demon God’ in the old records was the master of ‘Krisha, the Ultimate Weapon.’

So, if this girl really was that ultimate weapon, I had anticipated that sooner or later, something would happen to take her away from my domain.

According to the records, demons would mark their chosen human vessel from an extremely young age…

'If Krisha is around this age, she must have already experienced strange occurrences multiple times while growing up.'

The one who had been waiting all this time to take this child I had set my eyes on must have been dumbfounded when I suddenly appeared and took her away.

Thud!

Something struck me hard in the chest.

It was Krisha.

With vacant eyes, she kept hitting me as if telling me to put her down.

It seemed she had already been bound to that bastard’s will and was not in her right mind.

I tightened my arms around the child and headed toward the temple I had set up inside the academy.

As I made my way there, I saw the summoned mages in the distance trying to put out the fire in the dormitory.

Since it was such a massive blaze, it would take some time, but by the end of the night, it would likely be under control.

So I focused on what I had to do right now.

Tap, tap, tap!

In an instant, I crossed the temple and reached the altar.

"Priest, Healing Mage, and Erina. All of you, come up to the altar. We need to perform an exorcism."

The ones who had been called out in the middle of the night widened their eyes in shock.

Not only because of the struggling child in my arms but also because the word ‘exorcism’ itself must have sounded utterly foreign.

Priest Matthias looked at the child I had laid on the altar and asked,

"Your Grace, what in the world is going on?"

As I secured the child's limbs to the altar, I answered,

"It seems the child has been chosen as a demon's vessel and is being called to them. So we must sever that connection here and now. Be careful. The bastard is likely aware of us through the child’s senses."

Saying that, I felt a sense of unease.

I was worried that Matthias, being affiliated with the papacy that denied the existence of demons, might refute my words and ruin everything.

I feared that we might lose this one and only chance.

However, Matthias was not the kind of man who would blindly cling to doctrine when faced with a child whose eyes were bleeding crimson light.

He gave a slight nod and said,

"What must we do?"

Then, without hesitation, he began the exorcism.

Since we had no time to waste, I quickly explained,

"Mage, you must continuously cast healing magic on the child. Her body will experience immense shocks throughout this process."

"……."

"If she is not healed in time, she could die. So keep casting the magic without stopping. And Priest Matthias, you will perform the purification ritual. Nothing that comes out of the child’s body must be allowed to escape into the world."

The exorcism I had prepared for the day I would eventually face a demon had begun.

A remnant of the ancient past, long erased from the Empire, had resurfaced here in Axen.

Finally, I whispered to Erina,

"From now on, I will burn away the ‘mark’ inside the child's body using all of my mana. That’s why I need your divine protection more than ever. Use your holy power to stabilize my Mana Heart."

At those words, Erina's eyes widened in shock.

According to the novel, Erina’s divine protection was her secret, one she had never shared with anyone.

She opened her mouth as if about to say something, then simply nodded.

I gathered all the mana in my body into my hands.

It wasn’t much, but for me, using even this amount of mana meant putting my life on the line.

"Urgh…!"

A groan escaped through my clenched teeth.

Had Erina not been beside me, I would have surely lost consciousness.

Gritting my teeth, I focused my pure mana—

Fwooooosh!

—And in an instant, I poured it into Krisha's body.

The child’s body, unfamiliar with this foreign mana, began to smolder as if it were burning.

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the flow of mana.

‘Where the mana gets blocked—that’s where the bastard’s mark must be.’

And soon—

Fwoooosh!

I found the mark the demon had left on its vessel and drove all my mana toward it in an instant.

At that moment—

"Keugh!"

Krisha coughed up blood.

Struggling to keep my fading consciousness, I forced myself to keep burning it away.

But—

‘It’s not disappearing?’

No matter how much effort I put in, the remnants of the bastard’s presence inside the child wouldn’t disappear.

I was nearing my limit, and at this rate, the worst outcome could come to pass.

Then, at that moment—

‘No way?’

A bizarre thought crossed my mind.

‘Could it be… that the one who placed the mark on this child… isn’t a demon?’

A passage from a book I had read on severing the bond between a master and their vessel resurfaced in my memory.

In the case of demons, one can erase the mark by injecting mana.

But if the master is a ‘god’ and the vessel is their follower, the method must be different.

Those who have offered their souls to a god can only sever the bond through ‘sacrifice’ and ‘pain.’

I had simply assumed that the one who claimed Krisha as their vessel was a demon.

It made sense, after all—

That bastard was using Krisha to bring about this world’s destruction.

But… what if—just what if—

‘The one causing this world’s downfall… is a god?’

A ridiculous hypothesis took shape in my mind.

That among the lofty divine beings, one of them had chosen to raise this child.

Now, I had to make a choice.

Should I use the last of my mana to burn away the mark?

Or should I proceed with the ritual under the assumption that the master was a god?

At this very moment, I had to decide.

And—

My instincts chose to take a gamble.

Srrrrrng!

I drew my longsword.

All I had was this cold blade, so I gripped its blade tightly and...

Saaaaak!

In an instant, I slashed my own body.

From my shoulder to my waist, I cut so deeply that my bones were exposed.

"Your Grace!"

Those nearby cried out in shock.

But I couldn't stop.

‘There was never a rule that the sacrifice had to be that child. And the one who had to endure the pain...’

A child who had already lost their parents in the most horrific way.

I couldn’t offer that child's body as a sacrifice to sever their connection with the one controlling them, nor could I wring out their young soul’s suffering.

So, looking up at the sky, I spoke.

"From this moment on, I will sever the connection between the deity and its servant. I have already offered the reddest blood of my own body as a sacrifice. Now, grant me the pain."

And the next moment—

"Kuuaaaaah!"

I began to feel pain unlike anything I had ever experienced before.

No, perhaps pain that no one in this era had ever felt.

It surged in, an agony beyond description.

First, my entire body felt like it was being torn apart, my blood boiling over.

Then, countless regrets, remorse, sorrow, and despair flooded in.

"Uuuuugh."

I let out a desperate wail, my mind slipping away.

Ten thousand different kinds of pain.

Every suffering that could exist in this world pierced through my soul.

And in that moment—

I desperately tried to hold onto myself.

‘I am… I am Kim Si-hyuk. I won’t die here. I am…’

Yes, I am—

"I am Johan Kraubitz, Duke of the North."

As I forced out those words through clenched teeth...

Srrrk.

Thud.

I collapsed onto the ground.

"Haaah!"

The child gasped for breath and opened their eyes.

Groooan.

I used all my strength to crawl toward the child.

‘I need to check. I need to make sure it’s really over.’

So, summoning the last of my strength, I staggered to my feet.

Even my soul felt lonely and desolate.

Krisha, who had lost consciousness, woke up in an unfamiliar place and felt ‘his’ presence.

His presence whispered of ruin and despair, of tears and the world's end.

Faced with all of that, the enslaved child, Krisha, simply fell into despair.

‘I’m alone.’

Here, I am alone.

No one can save me.

Before this undeniable truth, Krisha felt her soul wearing away.

And then—

As time passed, feeling like an eternity, when Krisha had abandoned all hope—

Fwaaaaaah!

Suddenly, her eyes flew open.

A blinding light filled her vision in an instant.

She couldn't speak a word.

She could only see the light.

And within that brilliant radiance—

Ah.

She saw him standing there.

The savior, standing there bleeding, smiled at her and said,

"You know, this is the second time I’ve saved you."