From the depths of the lobby, people wrapped tightly in restraints shuffled into view.
CLANK. SCRAPE.
Burlap execution hoods had been pulled over their heads. Their bodies were emaciated, and they wore explosive vests far too large for them, with chains wrapped around their limbs.
“…….”
The Liberation Army stared at them with grim expressions.
The demon chuckled, seemingly entertained by the somber atmosphere.
“P-Professor.”
Someone beneath one of the burlap hoods spoke in an extremely hoarse voice.
“P-please help us.”
A terrified voice followed.
“Professor? Professor?”
Young voices, exhausted voices, trembling voices.
THUD.
Someone in the Liberation Army kicked Arthur Blanco with all their fury.
The professor clenched his teeth and tried to suppress his scream, but he could not.
“Ugh.”
At the faint groan, the hooded captives stopped walking and turned their heads.
“Professor? Are you there?”
“Is that you, Professor?”
The young voices rose sharply.
“Professor! Please answer us.”
“We came here because we trusted you. You said the Main Building would at least be safe. You told us to follow you.”
Sobbing escaped from beneath the burlap hoods.
“You said I was doing well. You said that if I worked hard, you would help me advance. Did you not?”
“…….”
“I really did work hard. No, that is not what I mean. I will work even harder, so please…….”
The pleading, childish voice gradually faded.
‘Fuck.’
Julian rubbed both hands down his face.
‘That bastard Blanco has not changed at all.’
-I worked hard. You said you would help me advance.
-Then you must work harder. Mr. Choi, you cannot even speak the language properly. Do you not understand how important communication is in research?
That bastard of a human and that bastard of a demon.
Who did they think they were, exploiting them, draining them dry, and killing them?
A surge of rage seized Julian’s entire body.
His divine power erupted, and light burst from his fingertips.
FWOOSH!
At the same moment, crimson flames flew toward the demon.
“!”
The blazing fire and pure white light intertwined in midair before slamming into the demon.
***
‘Fire……?’
Paimon could not believe what was happening.
Who was he?
He was the strongest of the Demon Kings and the wielder of fire, one of the Four Great Elements.
Through his dominion over flame, he could accelerate the slaughter, rampage, and destruction that consumed humanity.
He was the Demon King Paimon.
That was why he had not evaded the fireball that formed in midair and flew toward him.
‘They dare attack me with fire?’
It was utterly laughable.
‘How many times more fiercely should I burn these foolish humans?’
However, his leisurely confidence changed the moment the flames caught upon him and continued to burn.
‘Fire that refuses to submit to my dominion……!’
CRACKLE.
He instantly struck away the approaching flames, but the fire created by the union of divine power and flame magic remained attached to the hem of his clothes.
It continued to burn.
“Ha.”
The demon’s beautiful face twisted.
He had thought them easy prey.
He had intended to toy with them for a while and restore his spirits.
After all, watching humans panic and flounder after placing crying children before them was always entertaining.
It did not matter whether those humans had good reputations or poor ones, or whether they were righteous or wicked.
Most humans became helpless fools the moment children began sobbing pitifully before them.
It was predictable, perhaps, but never tiresome.
Yet these members of the Liberation Army were far more insolent than expected.
And far stronger than he had imagined.
CRACKLE.
Even then, the embers formed from divine power and flame magic refused to die, continuing to consume the hem of his clothes.
“You are determined to hasten your deaths.”
The enraged Paimon swept his hand through the air.
BOOM.
The entrance to the Main Building slammed shut.
BANG.
The numerous windows that had stood wide open closed at once.
From within the shadows of terrified mages, mercenaries unconsciously gripping their sword hilts, and holy knights raising their shields—
The demon’s familiars surged upward.
KRAHAHAHA……!
The sinister laughter made the hair on their bodies stand on end. Those with weaker nerves turned deathly pale.
“Eek!”
The hooded captives collapsed with strangled cries.
However, some stepped forward courageously.
“Wall of Flame, arise!”
The boy with the hood pulled low over his face summoned fire once more.
The familiars approaching the Liberation Army avoided the wall of flames by melting into the darkness of the ceiling and floor.
Julian turned toward the boy, his eyes widening involuntarily.
The red hair protruding from beneath the hood was familiar.
‘The Flame of Etain! So he was the one who launched that fire attack!’
His innate affinity for fire.
His merciless control when attacking and impregnable defense when protecting others.
The tremendous magic power supporting it all.
Julian remembered every detail.
Even five years ago, Sion Etain had been called a future Archmage.
SCREEE!
The familiars that had concealed themselves within the floor stretched out their hands to seize Sion’s ankles.
“Not so fast!”
The holy knights’ hammers shone as they struck toward the black, hook-like hands.
GRRRR…….
The familiars vanished with a scraping growl, as though they had anticipated the attack, then reappeared in midair.
A sharp voice rang out.
“Force of the Gale!”
Blades of cutting wind severed the familiars descending toward the holy knights’ heads.
Julian looked toward the person controlling the wind.
She was a striking beauty with long braided silver hair, red eyes, and a scar crossing her nose and cheek.
Silver hair and red eyes.
Her appearance resembled that of the Karuga Bloodline, who led the northern tribes of the Empire.
‘Is that the power of spirits said to be usable only by direct descendants of the Karuga Bloodline?’
A mage boy like a young dragon.
A foreign girl who commanded a wind spirit.
‘I must bring both of them to my side.’
There was also someone who had noticed the weakness in this situation and thrown a dagger.
CLANG!
A familiar knocked aside the dagger that had nearly pierced the head of one of the hooded captives.
An older mercenary who appeared to have survived countless battles clicked his tongue.
“What are you doing?”
“Can you not tell? We have to kill them to remove the bombs.”
“!”
Julian admired the practical instincts the mercenary had honed in real combat.
‘He is right that preventing the explosions must come first.’
However, the mercenaries around him did not seem to agree.
“If those things explode, we all die. We have to kill the ones wearing the vests and throw them away from us.”
The other mercenaries’ expressions turned vicious at the dagger wielder’s words.
“You demon-hearted bastard! That does not mean you can kill the children without hesitation!”
“Are you even human?”
The dagger-wielding mercenary faltered.
Just as a dangerous tension began to form among them, a mage from the rear shouted.
“Stop arguing and block that!”
The familiars stretched their long arms from the feet of the hooded captives.
Grinding their teeth, the mages launched spells at the creatures using humans as shields.
“Aaah!”
Sparks caught upon one of the burlap hoods.
Another mage hurriedly leaned forward to launch ice, only for a familiar’s blade to stab into his side.
“Urgh!”
“Fucking hell!”
The mercenaries closed ranks around the mages and raised their shields to protect them.
‘They truly are skilled.’
Julian realized it firsthand.
They had never properly trained together, yet they were displaying their abilities even in a crisis that had descended upon them without warning.
The sight made his own fighting spirit surge.
‘I cannot stand here doing nothing either.’
Julian moved.
‘I do not know how to fight demons.’
He possessed Third Prince Julian’s body and divine power, but at his core, he was still Choi Ui-hyeon—Assistant Choi.
He did not know how divine power was supposed to be used against demons, which was why he had been unable to act immediately.
However, if he remained idle, the vests could explode at any moment, and the division within the Liberation Army would only deepen.
‘I will rely on my instincts from using magic.’
What he possessed, above all else, was an overwhelming quantity of power.
‘Keep layering it, compressing it, and forcing it to collide.’
Whether it was magic power or divine power, repeatedly concentrating it should produce some result.
It was a crude method, but this was not the time to deliberate over every detail.
‘Fuck it. Charging in without knowing whether I will live or die is my specialty.’
Rather than stand still and be struck down, he would take the risk and land at least one blow.
Julian gritted his teeth.
“Theodore. When I give the signal, pour your power into the Holy Sword.”
Before Theodore could question the sudden order, the prince unleashed his divine power.
“O Light!”
The light was far too violent and overwhelming to be called mere divine power.
It erupted with such intensity that it seemed capable of blinding everyone present.
“!”
At first, neither Paimon nor the Liberation Army was surprised.
Using divine power in a battle against a demon was only natural.
“Purify all that is unholy! Holy Light!”
However, as Julian shouted again and spread his divine power, the atmosphere within the lobby rapidly changed.
BOOM.
Overflowing with strength, the holy knights swung their maces with tremendous force.
The marble floor from which the familiars emerged was gouged deeply.
“Damn it! I plated my sword with silver for nothing!”
“You should have had your weapon consecrated first, like I did!”
“Hand that one over!”
The mercenaries, their minor injuries healing rapidly, threw themselves viciously at the familiars.
SCREE!
The familiars screamed as the coordinated attacks struck them.
Divine power forced its way into their open mouths like poisonous gas.
SCREEECH!
The demon’s decision to shut the windows and entrance in order to imprison the Liberation Army had instead become his undoing.
“O Light!”
Julian released wave after wave of divine power into the lobby, turning the enclosed space into a chamber filled with poison to the demons.
As densely compressed divine power saturated the room, the light surged like a raging storm.
“Holy Light!”
CRACKLE.
The sparks flickering from the explosive vests immediately died.
SCREE! SCREEE!
The demon’s familiars shrieked as they were exposed to the intensely concentrated divine power.
They melted away like snow beneath the height of summer.
“S-stop!”
Paimon gasped.
“Y-you! You are imperial royalty! You lunatic! What manner of person uses divine power like this……?!”
“I am trying to prevent an explosion.”
Julian continued pouring out divine power.
His golden eyes looked ready to burst. He stared at the demon through bloodshot whites.
“So I decided that I had to create an even larger explosion on our side.”
“You madman……!”
The demon’s face turned white.
The radiance of the divine power made his already pale features twist even more grotesquely.
His body trembled as though his very existence were fading, while the flames clinging to his collar blazed even higher.
Now.
Julian sensed it instinctively.
“Theodore!”
At Julian’s shout, Theodore poured his own divine power into the Holy Sword.
SHIIING—
The white-glowing blade cleaved through the heart of the concentrated divine power.
FLASH.
The lobby exploded with light.