I Became the Youngest Sister-in-law of the Ruined Reverse Harem’s Male Leads - Chapter 68

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

#.68

 

The ominous aura characteristic of dark magic flowed along with the smoke.

 

Marius, who had arrived at the scene first to observe the situation, couldn’t smooth out his furrowed brow.

 

‘I should have just left it alone.’

 

He had been concerned about the object that the imprisoned Rebecca Marchione had discovered, so he tried to dispose of it.

 

But he never expected the Imperial Mages to cause such an incident.

 

The grass blades touched by the black smoke all turned into withered leaves without exception and fell to the ground.

 

Francois, who had just arrived at the West Tower, followed the black smoke with his eyes and said.

 

“I didn’t know there were dark magic items inside the Imperial Palace.”

 

“You know this object too.”

 

“I do?”

 

“The jar Rebecca broke when trying to escape. She tried to stab you with those fragments.”

 

“Ah. Now I remember. The reason the dark magic didn’t activate then was because Lilliana used her ability.”

 

The sky was covered in deep gray, making the day dark.

 

When sunlight is blocked, even broad daylight becomes no different from night.

 

As Francois recited ancient words, golden letters rose around him.

 

Just as he was about to materialize his magic, Marius grabbed Francois’s arm.

 

“If it’s dangerous, it would be better not to do it.”

 

“There are still several years left before the madness begins in earnest.”

 

“Doesn’t that mean it’s already started? That’s dark magic. What if it resonates with the crack inside you?”

 

“Seeing you treat me like a complete idiot, I guess I really was in quite a state last time.”

 

Francois brushed off Marius’s hand and recited a spell imbued with magical power.

 

When the spell is recited, the language of promise blooms.

 

Power that humans dare not imitate, power that only a few humans can wield—that was magic.

 

The language became sentences that intertwined like a net.

 

The net opened its massive mouth and covered the West Tower and the smoke that covered the sky.

 

Within the golden net, the smoke and evil aura gradually diluted.

 

Marius watched Francois casting the magic, observing him like a distant approaching storm.

 

The net slowly but surely sorted out the situation.

 

After quite a long time passed, everything returned to its place.

 

Except for the leaves that had already died.

 

“It’s all finished.”

 

“Are you really okay?”

 

“Cut it out.”

 

Francois responded irritably and immediately left the scene.

 

He really seemed fine.

 

At least until he reached the area where the West Tower was located.

 

When he arrived at a place where Marius couldn’t see him, his body began to stagger.

 

Cold sweat broke out on his pale face.

 

‘Damn it.’

 

If foreign mages had attacked the Empire, he would have dealt with it without much effort.

 

However, what he dealt with this time was dark magic.

 

And it was powerful ancient dark magic at that.

 

It had the worst compatibility with him.

 

‘Darkness seeped out through the cracks and almost reached resonance. If I had been just a little later…’

 

There almost would have been trouble at the Imperial Palace.

 

Through the tiny crack in his mind, a very small darkness revealed itself.

 

The darkness began to absorb everything that was inside Francois.

 

Then emotions resembling darkness poured into Francois.

 

Thirst, hunger, dryness, loneliness, longing… it was a sensation that couldn’t be expressed by any words.

 

It steals the vitality dwelling in the soul and makes everything desolate.

 

Laughter, happiness, fulfillment—all are swallowed by darkness, leaving him with only solitude.

 

Endless falling and profound fear began to erode his soul.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

“Francois?”

 

At the familiar voice, he turned his head to see the woman he had recently dated.

 

She said she worked as a librarian at the Imperial Palace Library, so that must have been true.

 

What was her name again?

 

I don’t know. I can’t remember. That kind of thing wasn’t important anyway.

 

“Are you okay? You look sick.”

 

“Wait. Just wait, help me for a moment.”

 

“Huh? I— Ah.”

 

Francois pulled the woman and held her tightly in his arms.

 

Darkness absorbs everything that exists. Anything, if it’s good.

 

Then he replenishes everything that was taken and subdues the solitude dwelling in each cell.

 

That’s how he protects his mind and soul from being devoured by darkness.

 

“I need you.”

 

What can counter darkness is light.

 

The light that a mere creature like a human can possess is love.

 

Without love, one can cope with warmth, affection, goodwill, fondness, admiration, devotion… many emotions.

 

After all, those are also extensions of love.

 

“If you needed me, you should have said so…”

 

The woman’s face turned red with embarrassment.

 

Francois extracted what he could get from her, regardless of what she said.

 

Warmth and concern, a little affection. Things like that.

 

It was the level that could be obtained with a face and a few decent words.

 

But what he needed now was beyond what the woman could give.

 

“Ugh.”

 

The darkness had read the traces of dark magic that remained in Francois while dealing with the incident.

 

His mind became scattered in an instant, and he was sucked into profound darkness.

 

“Francois. I’m getting a bit suffocated…”

 

Ah. I need light. Affection, warmth, love…

 

Francois flailed around looking for something to fill him.

 

“Francois. I can’t breathe. Francois!”

 

The woman began to scream.

 

Light flickered in Francois’s world. Then at that moment.

 

“Gasp!”

 

Francois was forcibly pulled up from the darkness.

 

Proper light finally entered his flickering vision.

 

What revealed itself through that light was.

 

“Emilia?”

 

Emilia was straddling him while gripping his collar tightly.

 

The woman gasped for breath and ran away, stepping backward, while Emilia glared at him with a distorted face.

 

“Are you crazy?”

 

“…What?”

 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!”

 

Finally, he could see his surroundings.

 

While his consciousness was being swallowed, darkness must have leaked out, as all the flowers in the garden had turned to ash.

 

Emilia spoke through gritted teeth.

 

“Even dark mages don’t make contracts with demons. But you.”

 

You’re nurturing a demon in your head?

 

* * *

 

Demons are a major category, dark magic is a subcategory.

 

In other words, demons are a much higher concept.

 

Dark magic is magic that mimics demonic power, created based on ugly emotions, sacrifices, offerings, blood, corpses and such things.

 

However, demonic power can only be obtained through direct contracts.

 

Because they are beings that oppose God, a price must be paid.

 

“I thought you had some looks to match when I saw you meeting with a woman. You’re pretty enough that it seemed unfair you’d only research during your prime years for fun.”

 

When Emilia released his collar, a strange pattern on her hand was revealed.

 

It wasn’t a tattoo. It was platinum-colored with a subtle glow.

 

Though the light was faint, for some reason it was so dazzling that I couldn’t see it properly.

 

“But then you sealed your house every night, so I guessed you were a dark mage leader. That’s why I even proposed through my sister to train mages. To help prevent decent mages from converting to dark magic.”

 

Emilia Berchio grasped his condition at once.

 

How on earth was that possible? By what means could a researcher who was neither mage nor priest do this?

 

When the wind blew, the ash that had been flowers scattered.

 

“But it wasn’t dark magic, it was a demon.”

 

Swallowing her excitement and suppressing her anger, Emilia unconsciously let out a rough breath.

 

As she felt around Francois’s head this way and that, golden patterns at her fingertips repeatedly glowed and disappeared.

 

“Demons are very cunning. They absolutely never make losing deals.”

 

“Turning life into ash is something high-level dark magic can accomplish.”

 

“Shut up. You have no right to speak.”

 

Though she had no magic power or abilities, when Emilia commanded, Francois’s mouth was forced shut by an invisible force.

 

It was as if his lips had been sewn together with thread.

 

What was even stranger was that it couldn’t be undone with magic power.

 

He began to panic.

 

“Demons, you see. They share a speck of the authority they possess and then devour souls. It would be better if they just ate them cleanly, but spitefully, they play all sorts of tricks before swallowing the soul.”

 

When Emilia lowered her head, their lips almost touched.

 

Their inhales and exhales were directly transmitted to each other.

 

Francois confirmed that golden light passed through Emilia’s blue eyes.

 

Though it was a fleeting moment, when their gazes met, it felt as if eons had passed.

 

He felt awe in those eons and saw the universe. Providence pierced through him.

 

Then the moment he was ejected from time, all of it became a forgotten dream, leaving only slight uneasiness before disappearing.

 

‘What exactly is your identity?’

 

Francois let out questions ready to burst beneath his unopening mouth.

 

Emilia smiled crookedly.

 

“You still haven’t noticed, it seems.”

 

She spread her palm. Her palm pressed firmly against Francois’s left chest.

 

The mark on her palm heated up to a warm but not hot temperature.

 

Francois felt something golden rising within him.

 

“This is my limit.”

 

It wasn’t magic.

 

He guessed it might be divine power. However, it was a density on a different dimension from the divine power he had seen until now.

 

It was hot and heavy and flexible and lovely and beautiful.

 

It was a fullness he felt for the first time in his life, something he had never tasted before.

 

He couldn’t help but be shocked by his confused feelings.

 

“That said, it probably won’t be at a level to compare with other priests’ divine power.”

 

Only then did the pattern carved on her fingers come into view.

 

The formulas used in magic are ancient promised languages and characters, but what appeared on her hand was a mark.

 

God’s mark. Granted only to those who receive God’s love.

 

At that moment, an old article flashed through Francois’s mind.

 

“I’m the Trobancha saint who appeared after 300 years, you stupid XX.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————