* * *

“Damn it, why would the seal be broken when we inspect it?!”

“Calm down, Dreyfe. It’s actually a good thing that something went wrong with the seal while we were here.”

“I really hate that about you, Sorin.”

Dreyfe rode his horse vigorously and looked up at the sky. There, Lydon, the fairy who relayed the situation of the seal, was leading the Knight Order at the forefront.

He hoped the reversal of signals was a simple mistake, but the fairy’s message betrayed his expectations.

‘Who the hell is he referring to when he says stinking demon? Damn it, he should be more specific!’

Lydon simply made an offhanded statement ‘The seal has been broken and a stinking demon has appeared, so hurry up before my human gets hurt’. There was no elaboration. It was clear that the seal had been broken, so they were rushing to get there, but they had no idea who was there.

Luckily, Dreyfe’s doubts didn’t take long to resolve themselves.

“That…….”

The oval seal floated in the air, a crack already quite large. The crack in the center was large enough for a giant troll to climb out of, and if he stuck his head in, he could probably see through it.

But it was impossible. This was because something was holding on, filling that huge crack. It looked like a part of the body or just a piece of meat. And at the end of it, an innumerable amount of flying insects were spreading out.

Dreyfe frowned as he surveyed the swarms of insects that covered the entire seal. He rolled his eyes quickly, but there was no sign of the Scarlet Scales Knight Order.

In the meantime, Martin, who had come up from the back of the line, called out in urgency.

“Sir Sorin, the size of the crack is alarming, and if we don’t close it soon, the seal may be beyond repair. We must act now.”

“I know. But first, we need to take care of the insects in front of us.”

Were they insects that lived in the Demon Realm? What was the source of the insects blocking the crack? He thought he should hear the story from Cadel directly, but the man who actually sent the signal was covered in a swarm of insects, and not a single hair of his head was visible.

At the time, the Guardian Knight Order was holding off on their attack and assessing the identity of the enemy. Lydon, who contributed to their hesitation with poor information, clicked his tongue and turned his head as if completely unaware of his carelessness. His eyes turned to the seal circle filled with bloodsucking insects.

The others could not find Cadel, but Lydon could at once. Flames surged through the gaps among the bloodsuckers. Lydon’s eyes softened as he recognized the familiar mana.

“My darling, you’re popular, aren’t you?”

* * *

Cadel wrinkled his brow as he drew a barrier of fire around Van and himself. His gaze was murderous as he stared into the void as if he were looking at an enemy with whom he couldn’t live under the same sky.

<Magic Attribute Distribution>

Retained points : –

Fire : 60/100

Ice : 0/100

Lightning : 0/100

Wind : 10/100

Earth : 0/100

Light : 0/100

Darkness : 0/100

While dealing with the bloodsuckers, Cadel invested 10 of his points in the ‘Wind’ attribute. Their movement was too fast for him to keep up with. He was planning to use Wind to speed up his fire magic, but unfortunately, he had too many points in ‘Fire’.

The 6:1 ratio didn’t give his fire magic the mobility it once had. Van’s attacks were also centered on destructive power rather than speed, so they were quickly surrounded regardless of how many bloodsuckers they killed.

No wonder. Though only one arm was poking through the crack, Ashvka’s body was massive. Moreover, the bloodsuckers that had been created were feeding on nearby monsters to maintain their supply.

“Commander, is it just me, or…… is the veil getting thinner?”

Van said, glancing at the flames surrounding him and Cadel. Cadel nodded curtly, his gaze never leaving the attributes window.

“It’s not just you. The speed at which they attack us is faster than the speed at which I pour in my mana. They will break through in a little while.”

“I see.”

Then Van would find a breach in the barrier, strike with his sword, and take Cadel with him to escape them somehow. Unlike Van, who kept his thoughts to himself, Cadel was already thinking about how to take down the bloodsuckers.

‘It makes sense to invest in Wind to keep up with the bloodsuckers, but I only have one attribute point reset potion, and I don’t know when I’ll get another. I don’t want to change my attributes for the sake of a sudden quest.’

Although Cadel enjoyed fast-paced subjugation using multi-attribute magic, focusing on speed was not his style. He didn’t want to change his fighting style just to exterminate a swarm of insects.

‘……I guess I’ll just have to put my faith in the Guardian Knight Order.’

The Knight Order of the Empire should be able to take care of the insects. In the first place, Cadel had no intention of putting all his mana into destroying Ashvka.

‘The first priority is to restore the seal. As expected, it is premature to change the attributes here.’

The moment when Cadel chose to hold on and trust in the support of the Guardian Knight Order.

Shaaa—

From beyond the barrier came a sound that sounded like a sharp gust of wind or the friction of tiny shards of glass, and with its cool echo, the oppressive feeling that had weighed down the barrier dissipated.

“How long are you going to hide behind that tattered barrier, darling?”

“Lydon!”

At the sound of a familiar voice, Cadel drew back the barrier, only to see swirling crystals of ice and the bloodsuckers pushed beyond. And a Lydon looking down on them from above.

Lydon simultaneously snatched Cadel and Van from the center of the vortex and flew into the air.

“Whoa, Van is heavy. I’ll just drop you.”

“Shut up and carry me.”

“Ahaha! Is there a need to be that uncute? Try harder, Van.”

Unlike Cadel, who was being carried safely in Lydon’s arms, Van was being held by his back, dangling like a piece of luggage. His stretched uniform looked as if it might rip at any moment, but neither Van nor Lydon seemed to want to touch each other.

As Cadel stepped outside the vortex, he could see the Guardian Knight Order taking on the bloodsuckers. A barrage of sword energy and elemental spells cut through the horde of bloodsuckers.

It was a splendid battlefield, but Cadel’s face turned white as he watched their fight.

‘Why are the knights fighting so close together? Shouldn’t they be using their sword energy more aggressively? And the barrier? Why isn’t there a barrier? ……No way.’

Cadel’s head snapped around to look at Lydon’s nonchalant sideways glance.

“Lydon. Didn’t you tell the Knight Order that the insects were bloodsuckers?”

“Huh? Should I?”

“Of course you should! They aren’t supposed to let those bloodsuckers touch them!”

Reflexively pressing his forehead, Cadel made a pained sound. Truly, he had a knack for raising blood pressure in unexpected places.