As one might expect from a key main quest, the length of the system window that popped up was different, as was the harshness of the failure penalty. But there was one sentence in the system window that caught Cadel’s attention more than any other.

‘The progress of the Human Realm invasion is already 70%?’

Could it be that the magicians in the other locations had failed to disable the magic circle? To be fair, the Demon Realm summoning progress shown was only 21%. If the invasion was 70% in progress with 21% summoning, 100% would be a breath away.

This raised a troubling question, but fortunately, it was soon answered.

“Ahaha! Darling, you’re so cool! You destroyed the magic circle so fast, as expected, you’re my human.”

Lydon, who had been watching Cadel from the air, scooped him up and carried him through the air. For a moment, Cadel panicked at the sudden flight. The earthquake that had stopped with the dismissal of the magic circle began again.

“What? The magic circle was definitely destroyed.”

“The city is not coming out. Look over there.”

As Lydon’s gaze traveled to where he pointed, he saw a gap in the fissure where the demonic energy had vanished. And dozens of red claws poking through it.

“That’s…….”

Their ugliness could be seen from a mile away. They were the ‘Red Men’, creatures in the form of humans with their flesh turned inside out. They were the monsters from the Demon Realm that had once been summoned with Sellev.

‘As soon as they detected that something was wrong with the great magic circle, they immediately released their force.’

The great magic circle had already begun to activate, and the Demon Realm seals had been broken. Despite the dire situation, the way to stop the rise of the demon city was surprisingly simple. Destroy the great magic circle, stop the onslaught of enemies, and establish a new seal.

This was probably why the main quest was titled ‘Demon War – Prequel’. In the ‘prequel’, your task is to destroy the great magic circle and annihilate the enemies.

“I’m gonna take care of those guys first. Lydon! Let’s go down.”

“But I want to fight from above?”

“I don’t want to lose my voice while giving orders. Hurry up and put me down.”

Grumbling that Cadel could just let the others fight on their own, Lydon obediently landed beside his comrades. Cadel looked back at his subordinates, who were already in battle formation.

“They’ll try to restore the magic circle somehow, and we won’t stop until the great magic circle is completely destroyed. So our task is clear: smash the great magic circle, wipe out the demons. You can do it, right?”

It had been a short year, but a long year nonetheless, and the Knight Order hadn’t been lounging in the airy mountains.

As they nodded in unison, an army of monsters burst through the ground.

“Let’s go!”

Once they had a way out, the Red Men began to multiply at a frightening rate. But their movements were outpaced by the Knight Order’s attacks.

“Van to the front! The rest of you, deal with the monsters that have leaked out!”

Berserker Van swung his greatsword with glee at the mass of monsters that appeared from the get-go. As he leaped into the gap between the monsters, vicious claws flew in all directions, but Kunra’s scale armor blocked them all.

Van ignored the onslaught of the Red Men and continued to unleash his sword energy. He shook off the grasping grip on his arm with nothing but his strength, and he didn’t hesitate to use his fists. The Red Man clung tenaciously, their joints snapping as the sword energy pierced them, but Van’s hand had no mercy.

His greatsword resonated low, having absorbed enough blood in an instant, and Van released his aura. The reddish aura that spread out, coloring the air, was a signal of sorts. That ‘I’ve warmed up, don’t bother with this, let the battle begin’.

“The place we protect is the border! Kill them all, don’t let a single one cross!”

Cadel loaded the [Ignition Bullets] from the rear, activating the spare [Ullo] he’d gotten from Garuel, as his own had been unable to withstand Kunra’s power and had burst.

Communications were still jumbled, but unlike a moment ago, there were more calm reports. Cadel listened to the communications in case they needed backup.

‘This quest won’t be successful just by protecting our assigned area. We need to help with the overall defense.’

Not to be conceited, but the difference between the capabilities of his subordinates and those of other ordinary knights was considerable. And with the Scarlet Dragon on their backs, their speed at sweeping an area would be unrivaled, and the evidence was there.

「Demon Realm Summoning Progress : 23%」

「Human Realm Invasion Progress : 74%」

The Knight Order was overwhelming the Red Men army at a frightening rate, but the invasion progress had just increased by 4%. This meant that the other areas weren’t going as smoothly as they should have, which was to be expected considering the raid-like nature of the Demon Realm summoning.

‘I’ll settle it from here and move on as soon as support requests come in.’

He had to move fast. Cadel snapped his thumb and index finger, and with a crack, the loaded arrows rained down.

Van’s [Thorns] spread out like a trap between the arrows, which, under Cadel’s control, missed his allies perfectly. The bodies of those not struck down by the arrows were bound and immobilized by the [Thorns].

A long flash of light was carved into the bound enemies’ stomachs. A feast of flashes that stretched to a blindingly vast expanse. The light faded as ice, demonic energy, and dark energy pierced through the enemies, tearing their bodies apart without mercy. It was a strategy for dealing with the Red Men, who would continue to crawl out of their mutilated bodies.

‘That’s easy.’

Now, most monsters were no match for them. Cadel sensed that the number of Red Men emerging from the underground was becoming noticeably smaller.

‘Their force is running out faster than I thought. Is this power beyond the Demon Realm’s expectations, or…….’

After a short pause, he retrieved the [Ignition Bullets]. It was obvious that this was a ploy to confuse the enemy by sending out the early raiders first and then taking advantage of the opportunity to attack.

“The real battle is about to begin! Everyone get ready!”

And, as Cadel had suspected, a boom rang out from the other side of the hole through which the Red Men had exited. Turning quickly, he saw the tattered remains of the Knight Order’s tent. And a pair of man and woman, trudging forward at a leisurely pace through the thick dirt.

“Are you crazy? I spent all my mana to make a silencing magic circle and now you’re suddenly breaking the ground?! Are you out of your mind, Sister?”

“Huh, aren’t you running your mouth right now? How dare you say that your sister is crazy? Lower your head. I’ll split it in half.”

Vivid dark red wings flapped behind their backs as they approached, their black robes fluttering. Cadel watched them wordlessly as they argued as if their bickering was more important than the enemy in front of them.

“Look at this! Didn’t you hear the Princess say that you shouldn’t make threats and that we should get along well? You’ve been eating so bad lately, have you gained some fat in your ear canals?”

“Hah, you bastard, are you behaving rudely towards your sister just because I’m a little older? Stop acting up. I’m already annoyed because it’s uncool that they’ve dug a hole like a mole and appeared.”

Their appearance was certainly recognizable. Copper-colored skin, reddish hair, and model-like figures. The pair, who looked alike even in their wildness, were the demon siblings Sol and Berry.

‘The younger brother was Berry, a magician. His older sister was Sol, a combatant. I’m sure I recognize their faces, I remember fighting them in the game. But why…….’

While he didn’t have a perfect recollection of the order of the enemies he defeated, he at least knew that they weren’t the first ones he’d encounter in this war.

‘The order of appearance has changed, why?’

The order didn’t change what he had to do. Still, it was disconcerting. The order of the enemies he would face in the Demon War was the one thing he remembered with some clarity, and it was not a pleasant feeling to have his advantage wasted.

Cadel turned his gaze away from their gradual approach and looked behind him. The subordinates who had cleared out the Red Men were now wary of the newcomers as well. Cadel flashed a quick glance at Yozen, then called to Lydon who was flying, and pointed at the demons.

Then, as if in anticipation, a flurry of ice spears shot toward the brother and sister. Sol, who had just been berating her brother, parried the ice spears with amazing reflexes, then looked back at Berry with a frown.

“Hey! Are you not doing your job properly? You have to properly make the shield…….”

Sol’s mouth slowly closed in disapproval at the soundless entrance of Yozen and her brother into her field of vision. There was no time to be surprised by Yozen’s unannounced presence, for where her gaze locked, there was the bloodless face of her brother, his carotid artery neatly severed as he was held by Yozen.

Yozen jerked away and shoved the bloody Berry as if to throw him at Sol. And as Yozen wiped the blood off the dagger, Sol realized that her brother had stopped breathing.

“You…… You…….”

Sol’s eyes glazed over as she clutched Berry’s rapidly cooling body roughly, and the world around her began to vibrate. Still not backing down, Yozen stood still and faced Sol’s wrath.

“You bastard……. I’ll kill you no matter what.”

At first glance, Sol’s fighting style seemed similar to Sellev’s, but the difference in speed was obvious. Sellev’s punches were quick enough to leave an afterimage, while Sol’s were embarrassingly slow.

“Berry, even though he’s a lame, incompetent, fragile little bastard…….”

Standing in a mounted stance, she raised her clenched fist to eye level and slowly extended her right arm. It was a commanding stance that could have appeared on the cover of any sports magazine.

As she drew closer to Yozen, the demonic energy from her body crackled in silence.

“No matter how much of an asshole he is, he’s my brother. He’s my precious blood relative……!”

In an instant, Sol’s eyes flashed, and her outstretched arm was right under Yozen’s nose. The punch clearly didn’t land. But the next moment.

Bang!

With a thunderous bang, a tearing shockwave ripped through the atmosphere. The ground crunched beneath his feet as a surge of demonic energy spread in all directions.

A single punch struck. The result of that slow, silent act was quite extraordinary. Yozen’s flesh exploded into pieces, unable to withstand the shockwave that spread out from the ground.

“…….”

Sol’s eyes flashed with venom as she slowly retracted her outstretched hand. What she saw before her was not charred human flesh, but a dark energy that spread like ink.

“……Alter ego. It was an alter ego.”

The dark energy that had been writhing on the ground was quickly falling back into place. Sol’s head turned, following the movement of the dark energy like water. Her dilated pupils turned toward the dark energy’s master and his comrades.

“Berry, he’s been attacked by an alter ego…….”

With a snap, she gritted her teeth and let out an ear-splitting scream.

“This morooooon!”

With a vicious shout, a storm of demonic energy surged around Sol. Her upside-down hair whipped around her like a devil’s, and her well-defined muscles bulged.

The hem of her viciously torn robe flew in the wind in front of the Knight Order. Cadel lightly pushed aside the shreds of clothing that came close to his nose, scratching his chin in embarrassment.

‘I followed the strategy and took out the younger brother first, but…….’

When targeting Sol and Berry, it was customary to start with Berry, given his pesky shields and ranged magic. But like his subordinates, they weren’t exactly data-driven characters, and the death of a sibling was too much of a stimulus. There was no detail in the game that Sol’s attack power would increase if Berry died first.

In the midst of the storm of demonic energy, Sol stood alone, adjusting her stance, and Cadel quickly noticed and gave his next instruction.

“That demon is going for Yozen. Van, Lumen, you two take care of the distraction. Garuel, stay back just in case. Lydon, you come here.”

Leaving behind Van and Lumen, who charged as soon as the command was given, Cadel grabbed Lydon’s face, who had landed in front of him, and pulled him right in front of his nose.

“Huh? What’s up, darling?”

Clutching the face that glowed as if relishing the close proximity, Cadel peered into Lydon’s red eyes.

“Is your mana still good?”

“Of course!”

“I’d like to cast some illusions. Can you do that?”

“There’s nothing I can’t do.”

“Good.”

Cadel pinched Lydon’s cheek lightly, as if Lydon’s smug expression was cute, and let go of his face. Then Cadel explained the illusion that Lydon needed to show Sol.

Garuel, who had been listening to the plan alongside him, nodded with slightly widened eyes.

“Our Knight Commander is more cruel than he seems.”

“This is an enemy whose only intention is to annihilate us, so there’s no point in upholding a code that will only lead to death.”

“Fair enough.”

Understanding Cadel’s explanation, Lydon reverted to the form of a small fairy and began a secret illusion. Since she was a High Demon and deeply focused on killing, Lydon needed some time.

It was during this time that a new magic circle was etched in Lydon’s eyes. An urgent voice came from the [Ullo] Cadel had turned on.