The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　"Furthermore, its 'duel' likely doesn't specifically refer to magical duels. Its original intent was probably for duels between gladiators or knights."

　"However, in this day and age, magical duels have almost monopolized the meaning of 'duel'."

　"So it adapted to local customs..."

　"Well, actually I'm just guessing. It's also possible that the duel in Jeffrey's mind is a magical duel."

　Dark's eyes reflected the flames as he continued, "Jeffrey was possessed by this Netherworld Fire while witnessing the Demon King's execution ceremony. There are likely many others who have been possessed like him. If the possessed person is a warrior, the so-called duel might have turned into a real battle."

　"Currently, it seems that those possessed by this Netherworld Fire are extremely aggressive, and will develop a desire to fight. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that some people with strong willpower can restrain this impulse."

　"If one can win in the dueling arena, not only can the memories related to the Netherworld Fire be extracted from the loser's mind, but also a portion of the abilities related to the dueling type can be taken away."

　"When used in magical duels, what is taken away is a portion of the magic power and a portion of the knowledge!"

　“Angus Jeffrey has taken away a lot of the magic and knowledge of the duelists through these few days of duels.”

　"If given enough time to accumulate and digest, he might become even more difficult to deal with."

　"In short, I call this kind of duel a Dark Duel!"

　……

　As Dark recounted the story, the other three finally realized the danger lurking beneath the magical duel.

　Ollie clenched her fists involuntarily. She was only one arena away from the young master, yet she hadn't noticed the "Duel Zone" unfolding at all. If the young master hadn't been so exceptional, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

　Pandora and Aurora listened with twitching eyebrows.

　After a moment of slight regret, Pandora couldn't help but look into Hephaestus's eyes.

　She hadn't cared about the "Eye of the True Dragon" before, but now she had developed a strong desire for it.

　"Perhaps we should seriously explore the mysteries contained within dragon blood?"

　As Pandora frowned in thought, Aurora also began to worry about her own lack of ability.

　She originally had a certain degree of confidence in her own abilities. But after arriving at the Duke's mansion, that confidence gradually diminished.

　She gritted her teeth and set a new goal for herself.

　……

　"A duel in darkness?"

　After careful consideration, Arvit said with concern.

　"If it's really as you say, things will become very complicated. The crowds gathered around St. Louis Square came from all over the world, including not only a large number of demi-humans, but also remnants of the demon race and members of evil cults. If they were given the ability to wage a dark duel..."

　“It’s not that pessimistic,” Claire shook her head. “The Holy Church has convened a Holy Tribunal for this, and might even use it to launch a new holy war.”

　Arvit rolled her eyes at her: "That would be even more troublesome."

　After saying that, she turned to Dark with surprising calm and asked, "So, after you won the Dark Duel, you also gained some of Jeffrey's magic and knowledge?"

　But Dark shook his head, saying, "No. I only obtained some fragmented memories. Besides Angus Jeffrey's experiences, there was only a special spell. Jeffrey compiled it using magical language and combined it with the power of Netherworld Fire to create two magic cards called 'Netherworld Monuments.' Of course, those two magic cards are useless now."

　"Why is that?" Claire asked.

　Dark rolled his eyes at her and said, "Of course it's because I didn't accept the possession of the Netherworld Fire!"

　Claire chuckled: "Of course I know, I just wanted to hear you say it yourself."

　Dark sighed and said, "What I'm more worried about is what the Netherfire itself can gain from the Dark Duel? I feel like it's already a whole size bigger than when Jeffrey first got it."

　Claire said, "According to you, it could be magic, or it could be something else."

　Dark said, "Also, have you considered what would happen if two people both possessed by the fires of the underworld were to duel..."

　Claire stated decisively, "Regardless of victory or defeat, one person's Netherworld Fire will be absorbed by the other's. It will continue to grow, and eventually..."

　Dark worriedly said, "They might eventually awaken their own consciousness. And as the Netherworld Fire grows larger, the possessed ones are very likely to gain more special abilities from it. In that case, they will actively seek out other possessed people. It's like raising Gu poison, and the final winner will be the Gu King!"

　Claire shrugged. "That sounds threatening. But don't you also have a Netherworld Flame? Maybe you'll be the final Gu King?"

　Dark said helplessly, "I'll repeat myself, I did not accept the possession of the Netherworld Fire!"

　Claire laughed and said, "Have you ever wondered why you can see it, but we can't?"

　Dark paused, then hesitated, "Perhaps it's because I won the duel. According to the rules of the duel, I gained ownership of this Netherworld Flame?"

　He drew a circle with his index finger, and the fire of the underworld spun around his fingertip, looking just like an obedient puppy.

　Arvit frowned and said, "You must be careful no matter what. If the Netherworld Fire shows any unusual activity, tell your mother immediately. If you are at the academy, go find Principal Art. We know nothing about the Netherworld Fire right now, so we must be on guard."

　Dark nodded and added, "Actually, the most troublesome thing about this Netherworld Fire is our lack of knowledge about it. Apart from the two of you, no one else can even sense it."

　“That’s true,” Arvit said. “Otherwise, we could have searched out all the possessed individuals and then systematically conducted the fusion experiment with the Netherworld Fire. However, as things stand, that’s practically impossible. But don’t worry too much, Mom will take care of things.”

　Darke replied, "Hmm."

　……

　The "invisibility" of the Netherworld Fire makes searching for the possessed person extremely difficult.

　The very nature of this affair, which is essentially a "breeding ground" for trouble, makes it unsuitable for public disclosure.

　Otherwise, it will only accelerate the "breeding of gu" (a form of venomous insect infestation).

　After gaining a clear understanding of some of the properties of the Netherfire through the Hand of Dark, Alvitt and Claire put the matter aside for the time being.

　They hadn't forgotten that there would be a farewell party for Hephaestus and Pandora that night.

　Hephaestus and Pandora did not change their minds about leaving because of this unexpected incident.

　By 8 p.m., the banquet hall was filled with all kinds of delicious food.

　Then Dark and the others entered the arena together with the magical spirits.

　Tonight's banquet wasn't as formal as Dak's birthday party, and everyone attending was one of their own.

　The magical elves ran merrily through the hall, adding a lively atmosphere to the farewell party.

　After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they all went up on the stage and started dancing ballroom dances.

　Midway through the dance, Pandora quietly pulled Dark away from the dance floor.

　The young boy and girl came to the balcony. The warm summer breeze gently caressed their cheeks, and the bright moon hung in the night sky, making their faces blush like the sunset.

　"The moonlight is so beautiful tonight."

　……

　[3-in-1 6000+]

　[137/233]

　[From today until July 3rd, editing will be unavailable, so images cannot be inserted.]

　(′`)

　"Complete Novel Website" Official Website: anben.

Chapter 520 Darkdemon's Soul-Stealing Sacrifice (6k)

　隔天拂晓，潘多拉和赫菲斯便是乘坐马车离开了王都。104;116;116;112;58;47;47;119;119;119;46;50;99;121;120;115;119;46;99;111;109;47;

　They planned to take a magical motorcycle to a town outside St. Marian's Academy and then decide on their next destination.

　From the information gleaned from the Duke's mansion, the two had discerned the Holy Church's impending major move. If they didn't leave the capital soon, they risked causing unnecessary trouble for the Duke's mansion.

　"Don't bother looking, they're already gone."

　Claire poked Dark's cheek as a reminder.

　Dak took a deep breath of the freshest air of the day and said, "Now, let's begin our experiment."

　……

　After a night of contemplation, Dark had more guesses about the origin of the Netherworld Fire.

　According to common human understanding of the underworld, after a person dies, they enter the underworld, and the consciousness within their soul is gradually worn away during the long process of wandering there.

　But both matter and energy are conserved.

　Nothing disappears into thin air.

　The so-called "erasure of consciousness" is most likely that it is stripped away and transformed into something else, such as "the fire of the underworld".

　Dark believed that the complete "Netherfire" should be a collection of some kind of consciousness.

　Perhaps they will be categorized and merged into enormous consciousness entities due to their different inclinations, and not called "Netherworld Fire." But the possibility of such enormous consciousness entities existing is extremely high.

　The gray flame in Dark's hand is just a small part of it.

　Regardless of whether this is true or not, he needs to conduct experiments to confirm the fundamental properties of this Netherworld Fire.

　Only by understanding it can we control it.

　And right now there is a ready-made way to understand it.

　At the same time, we can also see just how deep his control over this Netherworld Fire really is.

　Before long, Dak was ready in the laboratory.

　Experimenter: Darko Dimon

　Laboratory Assistant: Claire Kate

　Laboratory Logistics: Ollie Dimon

　Experimental audience: Yves Saint-Démon

　Experiment audience: Aurora Montilfali

　Experimental materials: Netherworld Fire

　Angus Jeffrey once used a spell obtained from this Netherworld Fire to forge two "Netherworld Monuments".

　Now that Dark has acquired ownership of the Netherfire, he has naturally also acquired this curse.

　He even obtained the method to compile this curse from Angus Jeffrey's memories.

　Otherwise, given Dark's current level of "magical language" proficiency, he might not be able to successfully complete the real-time translation of this spell.

　"The same spell can sometimes produce completely different results when compiled by different people using magical languages."

　Claire carefully examined the compilation method that Dak had copied down and said, "There's nothing wrong with this compilation method itself, just follow his instructions."

　Dark nodded and immediately began translating the spell.

　Meanwhile, Aurora and Alvitt sat to the side drinking tea.

　Half an hour later, Dark had completed the initial compilation of the spell. He then continued to test and debug the compiled spell according to Angus Jeffrey's method.

　At nine o'clock in the morning, he finally finished all the debugging.

　"Next, we will use this spell as a basis to create a spell card."

　From compiling the spells to crafting spell cards using Netherworld Fire as the core material, it is a process of fully understanding them.

　Dak took out a dropper and tried to draw a tube of "flame" from that "underworld fire".

　The nature of this "Netherworld Fire" is very strange; it not only does not release heat, but it also does not consume "fuel".

　It gives the impression that it is not a flame, but a soul-like substance shaped like a flame.

　So what appears to be "burning" is actually just "shaking".

　It is also divided into two parts as a whole.

　One part is the core, like a tiny flame, and the other part is the flame outside the core.

　The core is difficult to extract, and it stores memories, magic, and other substances.

　The flames outside the core are like "skin and hair," which can regrow after being removed.

　Angus Jeffrey's "Netherworld Monument" was ultimately forged using the flames outside this core as materials.

　Therefore, Dark also drew out a tube of "flame" and used it as "ink" to write the spell, and began to refine this spell card.

　In fact, crafting this spell card wasn't particularly difficult. Both the spell's creation and the collection of other materials were relatively simple.

　Overall, it is probably easier than the "Blink Spell".

　Its ability to ultimately create spell cards like the "Netherworld Monument" relies entirely on the unique properties of this "Netherworld Fire".