As Cadel called out to Kunra, his consciousness focused on Cadel. Kunra, who immediately figured out the identity of the magic circle, attempted to begin a full-scale investigation, but Cadel stopped him.

“We’ll investigate later, but for now, let’s take down the High Demon, we need your strength.”

Kunra seemed dissatisfied, but he had no intention of being convenient.

Just as they were wrapping up their explorations, Yozen returned. He held out what he had in his hand to Cadel with a smile that seemed ever so slightly more cheery than usual.

“It was an interesting plant.”

It was the Heart of Vita. The yellow-brown lump in Yozen’s palm looked like an ordinary ore at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it was pulsating. The disgusting dark gray slime that coated its surface was a bonus.

“Thank, thank you…….”

Cadel hesitantly picked it up, and the mere touch made him sick to his stomach.

‘I’m supposed to eat this.’

He couldn’t eat it like this, so he tried rubbing it on the hem of his clothes to clean it, but the sticky slime wouldn’t come off.

Cadel obsessively wiped the [Heart of Vita] all the way to the seal circle, where the Knight Order and Mendel were facing off, and shortly after arriving at the seal circle.

[You have consumed the Hidden Item, the [Heart of Vita].]

[You can feel an incredibly powerful flow of mana through your body!]

[Magic achievement increases by ???.]

[Congratulations! You have acquired the title [8-star magician]!]

Cadel was able to reach a higher level before the full-scale battle with the HighDemon ‘Mendel Haliev’.

[Main quest ‘Flowers of Death’ accepted!]

[Complete the quest to progress through the story. Rewards will be given.]

[On failure, a random knight disappears.]

* * *

Although it was difficult to understand the cry ‘It starts now’, the members followed Cadel’s orders and immediately widened the distance between them and Mendel.

Mendel’s head, caught by [Fire Chains], suddenly fell. The neck, pierced by the dark energy, was hanging precariously as if it would plummet to the ground at any moment.

And the next moment.

From Mendel’s body, countless shards of bone began to fall in a waterfall-like cascade. The sheer volume was such that at first glance it seemed as if Mendel’s body was being reduced to bones. The aggressive momentum quickly buried him and the chains that bound him.

At the same time, the wind picked up. The ‘black petals’ floating near the seal swept around Mendel, creating another vortex.

“Garuel! Prepare your demonic energy!”

Cadel called out Garuel, pushing back the members who were watching Mendel’s changes. He said calmly as he pulled Garuel, who was looking for an explanation.

“From now on, you must create a field of demonic energy that encompasses the entire battlefield.”

“A field of demonic energy……?”

“Pour all of your healing abilities onto the field, preferably separating your allies and Mendel so that you can heal your allies and attack Mendel, but if you can’t, stick to healing.”

“……There are a lot of things I want to ask, but if I had to pick just one of them, Knight Commander, it would be that I have never made anything like a ‘field of demonic energy’.”

Garuel gave him an awkward smile. It was an unconfident demeanor, but Cadel didn’t mind.

“You can do it. I guarantee it.”

“Haha……. Of course, I’m happy to be favored by you, Knight Commander.”

“That’s not encouragement, that’s conviction. You’re the only one who can do it.”

“If you say that, I can’t pretend to be weak.”

Regardless of one’s belief in Garuel’s skills, his ability to recover was almost essential in dealing with Mendel. If he couldn’t do it, the difficulty of this battle would increase exponentially.

The vortex was slowing down, and with it, Cadel sensed the power of the [Fire Chains] that bound Mendel was weakening.

‘There’s only so much time to hold on to it.’

Cadel caught a glimpse of Garuel as he prepared the technique step by step. It was a technique called [Space of Regeneration] in the game.

Although he was a born S-grade knight, it had not been long since Garuel embraced his demonic energy. It would be unreasonable to expect him to be able to manipulate demonic energy freely in such a short period of time, and some trial and error would be inevitable.

‘I hope he can complete it before [Fire Chains] breaks.’

He had to be prepared in case Garuel didn’t make it in the end. Cadel grabbed the pendant, drawing on Kunra’s power.

Scale armors covered the allies in an instant. Lumen spoke quietly, the atmosphere rising along the dispersing vortex.

“Isn’t it time to tell us what kind of abilities that bastard has? Leader.”

“I’m short on time, so I’ll keep it simple. If you touch those ‘black petals’ surrounding him, you’ll be ripped apart, whether it’s your energy or your body, and you’ll become Mendel’s ‘protective shield’. So you must not touch the petals until you have destroyed all of Mendel’s protective shields and destroyed his body.”

“Don’t touch the petals…….”

The feast of flower petals flowing in all directions could not be avoided. Was it possible to attack Mendel while avoiding all of that? Cadel’s answer to that was clear.

“Of course, that’s not possible, which is why we need Garuel. Regenerating the flesh that touches the petals before it’s damaged is the key to this battle. If Garuel fails, everyone had better be prepared to give up at least one arm.”

Of course, Cadel would do everything he could to prevent that from happening.

Garuel, who had no way of knowing what Cadel was up to, could only smile bitterly at the enormous task assigned to him.

“I’m almost in tears from the pressure, Knight Commander.”

It was Mendel who announced the resumption of the battle. Inside the vanishing vortex, all that could be seen was a mountain of skeletal remains and the flames of the [Fire Chains] buried within, but Mendel’s voice rang in the group’s ears, clear and vivid.

“As expected, the protective shield made of monsters has its limits. I was waiting to reinforce it with a human one……. It’s worth it to leave the seal circle unattended.”

The bones began to vibrate. At the same time, the [Fire Chains] was pulled taut, as if it would snap at any moment. Cadel made no effort to hold on to it, and the relentlessly torn chains of fire sank to the bottom of the swamp.

Eventually, from the slowly collapsing tomb of bones, Mendel appeared. His reappearance was met with an explosion of energy unlike anything they had ever experienced before.

“I’ll eat you all.”

In Mendel’s right hand was a whip he had never used before. The rose-pointed thorns of the whip sparked with dark demonic energy, and black petals rained down in a trace Mendel had drawn.

“Lydon! You’ll focus on providing cover with me until Garuel’s technique is perfected! The rest of you, look for an opening!”

The whip’s movement far exceeded its normal speed. Dozens of afterimages that could not have been created by a single whip began to wash over the group in an instant.

Cadel hastily drew a barrier of wind to protect the Knight Order, and Lydon summoned a blizzard to drive back the oncoming petals, but it was too much to shake off all of them.

“The barrier……!”

As Van approached Mendel, black petals fluttered into his vision, and as soon as they touched Cadel’s wind barrier, they began to distort it. As if absorbing energy, all of the barrier’s mana seemed to be sucked into the petals.

Van quickly twisted away from the petals, but even where he escaped, the petals were everywhere. The petals gaped greedily at the slightest touch and lunged for him. The remaining scale armor protected him even as the barrier vanished. As he watched the scales fall one by one as they touched the petals, Van realized.

‘This is armor made with the power of the Scarlet Dragon. If the petals absorb the energy of the armor, Mendel’s shield will become stronger than anything made of monsters.’

The more he relied on his armor, the stronger Mendel’s shield became. Here, it was right to give up the armor, even if it hurt. With that thought, Van turned his head to look for Cadel, and their gazes met.

And in that brief eye contact, Van noticed that Cadel was already aware of that fact as well. However, he could not send his subordinates bare-handed to a battlefield without the field of demonic energy or even the slightest shield.

Sensing that the wind barrier was rapidly replenishing itself, Van adjusted his grip on the greatsword. Even if they surrendered to Mendel, Cadel would never lead them to their deaths. So the best a subordinate could do was to trust the commander’s judgment and focus on the enemy.

Mendel’s whip never ceased, sword energy and dark energy swirling through the ever-growing petals. The closer they got to Mendel, the more petals it grew. Close combat was impossible. Van, Lumen, and Yozen fired energy as far as their barriers would allow.

This battle was especially tricky for Yozen, whose movements were forced to become passive when the battlefield was filled with things that ‘shouldn’t be touched’. This was especially true if it was a situation where you had to attack head-on.

‘In order for Yozen to demonstrate his skills, he needs the strength of the rest of the team. Garuel is…….’

Regenerating the dissipating barrier every few seconds, Cadel watched Garuel unleash his demonic energy. It wasn’t fast, to say the least, but Garuel’s demonic energy was steadily covering the swamp.

A black flame burned within his body, and the demonic energy covering the left half of his body gradually expanded in size, drawing strange curves.

Although Garuel had the appearance of a demon whose half body was burning with demonic energy, there was no trace of malice in his eyes as he looked back at Cadel.

“Is this how it should be done? Knight Commander.”

A ripple of demonic energy spreads across the battlefield. The range was sufficient. As if on cue, Cadel dismissed the scale armors and barrier, spreading dark mana around Garuel. He was conscious of Jeff, who would be watching them from somewhere.

“Perfect. And Lydon, you can join the battle from now on.”

“Hah, finally? I almost died of boredom.”

“Don’t get too carried away and disturb your comrades.”

“Ahaha! It’s not that I’m in the way, it’s just that everyone is annoying me!”

Lydon, who had been following Cadel’s orders with a bored expression the entire time, entered the center of the battlefield. Cadel sat upright next to Garuel, who was controlling his demonic energy.

“……Umm? Tough to stand, Knight Commander? You’ve been walking a long time, you deserve it.”

“Who do you think I am, a hundred-year-old man? Focus.”

With Mendel’s list of skills in mind, there would come a time when his power would be needed. Cadel planned to prepare for that ‘one shot’, leaving all the fighting to his subordinates.