MDPS 35

 Chapter 35

My Dark History Is Too Strong

Gaze

The First Skill of the Dark Prince Theo, “Theo’s Absolute Kingship.”

This skill is the only true counter to Hertia.

【Theo’s Absolute Kingship】
Description: A king is a being above all others. Theo is unaffected by any “slow” debuffs. When battle begins, he gains extra speed equal to 50% of his current speed. If he succeeds in striking first, the effect “King’s Command” is activated.

King’s Command: If Theo strikes first, he may designate one enemy, who will then be forced to obey Theo’s command for a set duration.

Hertia’s “Principle” slows down all summoned creatures—except the caster herself.
But Theo, immune to slow, is unaffected.

That much, I expected.
But there’s something strange.

“King’s Command is supposed to be unlocked only when Theo’s First Skill is upgraded… so why can he use it right from the moment he’s summoned?”

And then, a message popped up.

《You have achieved a Great Success in inheritance!》
《A summoned creature with a Great Success in summoning has its First Skill immediately upgraded, and its level is synchronized with the party’s average.》

What the—seriously?!
Nothing ever comes easy, does it?

Still, what’s done is done. From here on, I just have to fight Theo and Caligo.

“Gather!”

I immediately summoned the rest of my creatures.

The lineup: Hertia, Iron, Merrill, and Iris.

Unexpected complications aside, I’d prepared for this—ready to handle any villain that might appear.

“Herr!”

Hertia hurled the orb of magic in her hand at Theo.
But Theo dodged it with ease.

“Is this all you’ve got? The price of betrayal is indeed harsh, Hertia.”

He dismissed her attack as weak—far below her prime.

But Theo…
That attack wasn’t meant for you. It was aimed at Caligo.

“Herr, move Iron!”
“Yes!”

With Hertia’s artifact, Iron—already placed at the front—lunged straight at Caligo.

《The front-line effect of “A Knight Does What Must Be Done” is activated.》
《Caligo, the Liberator of Death, is Stunned!》

“Merrill! Now!”

Caligo was the most troublesome opponent when faced head-on.
He had to be stunned first—otherwise Merrill’s skill would backfire disastrously.

《The Black Priestess Merrill uses Sacrificial Offering!》

She sacrificed all of her own health, forcibly applying a debuff to Theo.

《Dark Prince Theo is afflicted with Focused Taunt!》

Theo’s eyes glowed red as he fixed his gaze on Merrill.

“You insolent wretch! Release this sorcery at once!”

The fight was essentially over.
Theo was a summon heavily skewed toward attack and utility.
Which meant that after a few rounds of assault—

“Attack, Iris.”

《The Verdant Shadow Iris uses Forest Volley!》

The moment Iris drew her bow, a mighty power of nature infused the arrow.
The energy swelled, splitting into multiple arrows.

She loosed the taut string.

Piiiing!

A green flash tore across the battlefield, straight toward Theo’s vital spot.

Thwack!

《Dark Prince Theo has taken a critical hit!》

As expected of one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
The shot had aimed at his heart, but Theo twisted at the last instant, taking the arrow in his shoulder instead—minimizing the damage.

Dropping his demonic staff, he clutched his wounded shoulder.

“Damn it!”
“Theo, you’ll pay for resisting Master!”

Hertia was about to step forward, but I blocked her.

“Herr. That’s enough.”

Killing Theo outright could have unforeseen consequences.
I might never be able to summon him again.

From here on, persuasion was needed.

“Traitors! To think you’d kneel to a mere human—pathetic! Even if my body is broken, my loyalty will remain unshaken!”

Theo glared at me with murderous rage.

Yes, that arrogance.
That belief that he alone was the world, the universe.

But there was one person Theo had truly served.
Lucifer, the King of Ten Thousand Demons.

I steadied my breath and stepped before him.

“Theo. Do you truly not know who I am?”
“Silence, lowborn! To breathe the same air as the leader of traitors disgusts me!”

…Ouch. That stings.

But a bruised ego isn’t reason enough to give up on persuasion.

“How ironic, Theo. You who despises betrayal so much… have yourself become a traitor.”
“…What?”

For the first time, his unwavering eyes wavered.

Theo had been born the third son of the Periad royal family.
Gentle by nature, he had little chance of inheriting the throne.
He lived peacefully in the palace, away from the power struggles.

But tragedy struck suddenly.

Duke Leon, the king’s brother and hero of the realm, launched a rebellion.
Within moments, he seized the palace.

He branded the king and queen as traitors and executed them.
The crown prince and princess as well.

Theo escaped only thanks to a loyal nursemaid.
But the price of survival was the loss of everything.

Leon displayed the severed heads of the royal family outside the palace walls, denouncing them as villains who sold the kingdom to demons.

The sight seared itself into Theo’s soul.
He loathed himself for once calling that man “uncle.”

What stung more was that nobles and knights who owed his father their lives sided with Leon.
Even the common people cursed his family and welcomed their new king.

The Periad Kingdom was no longer his home.

Years later, Theo found a path to vengeance.

The Forbidden Relic: the Demonic Staff.
It held the power of the demon Destruc.

The demon demanded Theo’s body in exchange for revenge.

Theo, with nothing left to lose, accepted.
He asked only one thing:

“Will I be able to witness the moment of revenge?”

The demon laughed.
“How can the dead see tomorrow?”

At that instant, a deep, black fury surged within Theo’s soul.

He had lost his family, his honor, his future.
And now—would he lose even his revenge?

Was he only ever to be robbed, and robbed again?

With that rage, a sealed power within Theo awakened.

Destruc, unable to withstand Theo’s immense will, was sealed into the staff instead—becoming part of Theo’s own power.

Thus was born Dark Prince Theo.

And from then, he had a single purpose:
To reign as an absolute king, and to punish all traitors.

“I betrayed no one!”
“You did. You betrayed me. Your master. Can you not recognize me, even standing before your eyes?”
“My master… I have but one!”

If you cannot believe, then I will prove it.
By recalling the secret words we exchanged—just the two of us.

“Will you abandon it all, Theo? A king raised by his enemy’s hand, an unforgivable fool?”
“?!”
“If you intended to cast it aside so irresponsibly, you should never have borne it to begin with.”
“Th-that’s…!”

I stepped closer to the trembling Theo, crouching to meet his gaze.

“All your sins. Your pain, sorrow, resentment, fury, despair—I shall take them all.”
“……”
“Just… be mine. Foolish young king.”

At those words, Theo bowed his head, tears streaming down.

“…I’m sorry. Brother came too late to find you.”

* * *

“I understand your worry. But you two—leave us for now.”
“But what if he harms you, Sage?”
“Do you truly think I’d let that happen?”
“Well… no, but still…”
“Then take another task. There may be eyes watching nearby—keep guard.”
“…Yes!”

The two withdrew.

Cautiously approaching, Theo bowed his head.

“…I’m sorry, brother. I didn’t know it was you…”

Such a drastic change in tone.

Yes—Theo used to call Lucifer “brother.”
I had allowed it, after all.
It was the only way to win the trust of one who’d lost all his siblings.

“I’m really sorry. Really, really sorry, snf—”

I stuffed a piece of chocolate into his mouth.

Usually I saved it for when I needed to think, but luckily, I had some left.

“This… this is the snack you always used to eat, right?”
“Yes. My favorite.”
“You always said you’d share one someday… it’s delicious!”
“I’ll overlook your mistake. Don’t dwell on it—just keep showing me your loyalty.”
“Mhm…”
“So rise, Theo. If you keep moping, Hertia and Caligo won’t stay patient.”
“Okay!”

Theo’s storm of emotions finally calmed somewhat.

As I dusted myself off to leave, a message from Hertia reached me.

—Master. I’ve spotted someone suspicious.
“Suspicious?”
Someone is watching you.

So it wasn’t my imagination.

* * *

Min Kang-hoon, member of the Deathside Guild and information scout.

A veteran adventurer, he specialized in summons with stealth abilities.
Guildmaster Sun Seong-tae had ordered him to investigate one man—

The mysterious adventurer.

Most information about him was blocked even at government level, so Min had to tail him personally, even into the Tower.

It wasn’t easy—his associates were well-protected.
But the man himself had almost no security.

“But why the hell did he suddenly come to Inje-gun, slipping into the forest at night? And in the Episode 8 update zone, no less?”

His movements were nothing but suspicious.

He’d appeared like a comet, cleared the Hidden Boss of the 50th floor, and taken 1st place in the Twilight Arena.

But no “rising star” appears without a backer.
Both Sun Seong-tae and Min Kang-hoon knew that.

And now, trailing the man, Min finally caught sight of something strange.

“A violet flash… then a black smokescreen… and suddenly a battle breaks out?”

From afar, in the dark, he couldn’t see the summons clearly.
But one of them… looked hauntingly familiar.

“Long silver hair. A black dress…?”

A chill ran down his spine.

“The Witch of the Apocalypse! She’s here!? Is he… controlling the Witch? No, impossible. Then—is he fighting her instead?”

Damn it. If only he could get a little closer to confirm.

Cursing, he reached for his phone.

“Tch! No signal?!”

If he could livestream this, it would ruin Oh Hyun-woo instantly.

But the Episode 8 update area had no reception—completely dead.

“Nothing’s working right today…”

So Min decided to at least record a video for evidence.

He zoomed in, filming Oh Hyun-woo and his summons.
As Hertia and the others vanished, only one summon remained with him.

Just as Min tried to zoom further—

“…Well, well. A little rat has sneaked in here?”

A voice behind him.

He turned—
And there stood Hertia, the Witch of the Apocalypse, looming over him.

“I’m screwed.”