* * *

As soon as the morning dawned, the summoning circles began to regenerate as if they had been waiting for it. Cadel watched the demonic energy glow darkly, threatening to absorb all light, and as the amount of demonic energy increased, the summoning circles appeared in a wider area.

“Reinforcements won’t arrive until broad daylight, so don’t expect much. We’ll take care of the disarming and analysis here for now.”

Mamil grumbled tiredly as he came up beside him. Cadel nodded grimly. He didn’t expect reinforcements to arrive early anyway, and unless the magic circle was about to be triggered, it wasn’t as if they were in need of immediate assistance.

“……How are you feeling? You act like you’re fine in front of me, but then you’re in pain as soon as I leave. Isn’t that why it’s so hard to pamper you?”

“Don’t worry, eat to your heart’s content. I’m fully recovered by now.”

How many times did Cadel tell them not to worry today? As soon as he emerged from the barracks, Cadel was met by his subordinates, and he had to prove his health by answering each of their worries, which were tantamount to an inquisition. It seemed to sap him of half his energy.

“Let’s get to work, Master. We’ll take care of the summoning circles, and you can focus on the analysis.”

“I will.”

While the magicians worked on disarming the summoning circles, the rest of the knights decided to deal with the summoned monsters. Cadel found the nearest summoning circle and set to work disarming it. He still had plenty of mana, he just needed to distribute it for the long haul.

As he poured mana onto the summoning circle. Cadel’s face creased subtly, as if he sensed something was amiss.

‘……What’s this?’

It was familiar mana. An energy he’d used countless times before, felt countless times before. Unlike when he first crashed into this world, he was now comfortable enough to let his magic unfold naturally, without much effort.

But why.

“Cadel?”

Lydon, who had been standing a few feet away, approached Cadel, who suddenly stiffened. Cadel looked up at Lydon wordlessly. His face was as calm as usual.

“What’s wrong, you not feeling well again?”

Cadel felt sick. The longer he looked at Lydon’s face, the more his stomach churned. It couldn’t be Lydon’s fault. Could it be that something was wrong with his body again? If he collapsed here, it could jeopardize the summoning circle analysis, as well as the disarming process.

“……No, I’m fine.”

“Hmmm…….”

“I’m really okay, Lydon, go ahead and break the summoning circle.”

Even after he finally sent Lydon on his way, the churning in his stomach didn’t calm down. Something felt solidly wrong. The mana that was clearly his was unfamiliar, and the faces he’d seen over and over were unfamiliar. He felt as if he was out of touch with the world as if all his senses had been shut off.

“What’s going on?”

Cadel muttered through clenched teeth, and once again, he breathed mana into the summoning circle. The mana was the same as always. It was as simple as releasing the mana in his body as usual, and it shouldn’t be difficult at all, but Cadel couldn’t seem to dismiss the summoning circle.

“Why…….”

The sensation of the mana leaving his body was horrifying. A strange sensation, as if the blood in his body was flowing backward. Reflexively grabbing the pendant, Cadel called out Kunra’s name. He couldn’t help but think that all of these strange phenomena had something to do with Kunra.

But no matter how much mana he channeled through the sickening sensations, Kunra did not appear. Not even a word in response.

He broke out in a cold sweat. It wasn’t sickness, but an inescapable fear, like that of a man who had just received a decisive revelation of death.

He must get himself together. The summoning circle he hadn’t been able to break was emitting demonic energy that was getting thicker and thicker. At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to deal with the Red Men legions that were on his doorstep.

‘Finish it all, even if it hurts.’

He’d be putting everyone in danger if he faltered in this place. Reinforcements would take time to arrive, and Mamil was still not at full strength.

If he were to step down, it would leave Lydon and Garuel in charge of breaking the summoning circles. In practical terms, Lydon alone would have to squeeze out the mana, and he couldn’t let that happen.

‘Get it together.’

Cadel breathed heavily, chastising himself. Whether it was a side effect of Kunra’s energy or the exhaustion that had been building up, he couldn’t collapse here and now. Squinting desperately, he channeled as much mana as he could into the summoning circle before him.

* * *

His suspicions were confirmed. This was not a simple summoning circle; it was part of a vast array of magic circle formulas, specialized formulas that awakened one after another in response to human mana.

The summoning circle must be destroyed to stop the monsters from appearing, but the moment the summoning circle was destroyed with mana, a new magic circle would be activated. He was surprised that there was a magician in the world who could conceive of such a ritual, but there was something even more shocking.

“……The magic circle is about to be activated.”

He’d been disarming summoning circles for too long, too many times, and the magic circle was already on the verge of activation. To stop it from activating, they needed to stop disarming summoning circles. But if they did that, their allies would have to deal with an endless army of Red Men.

Without knowing the total number of monsters being summoned, they couldn’t blindly enter into a protracted battle. New demons could emerge in the meantime, and they couldn’t afford to delay the search for the Stone of Peace.

‘There’s only one way out now, a frontal assault. Whatever comes out of this magic circle, we’re stuck watching.’

If they had just a little more time, if the magic circle had been a little slower to activate, they would have been able to do something about it. But by the time he realized how the magic circle worked, it was too late.

Mamil decided to relay his findings to Cadel first. Telling the rest of the knights, including Admon, didn’t change what they had to do: their sole mission was to destroy every enemy that appeared.

Cadel, however, was different: he needed to stock up on mana for the upcoming magic circle destruction, he needed to organize his troops, and he needed to coordinate with the reinforcements that would arrive later.

That was the moment Mamil was about to relay the information to Cadel.

Chwiing-

From the summoning circle, which had been radiating nothing but demonic energy the entire time, a sharp resonance spread. The resonance began with a single summoning circle, then spread out, until it became a deafening vibration.

Mamil watched his surroundings, wincing in pain from the ear-splitting tinnitus. Whatever was about to happen, if the cause was related to magic, the magician had to find a clue and resolve the situation somehow.

Soon enough, Mamil realized the source of the tremendous vibrations.

“Everyone, prepare for battle! A new magic circle has appeared!”

The summoning circles that had just filled the field of vision were nowhere to be seen. In their place, a huge magic circle appeared, encompassing the area where the summoning circles had been. It covered the ground where the allies stood, sinking into the darkness of the abyss.

‘The magic circle is definitely close to being activated. There’s still a bit of time left, though. Unless the summoning circles were destroyed ten at a time, there’s no way the magic circle could be triggered so quickly.’

There was no way someone could disarm that many summoning circles in such a short amount of time. Unless some idiot who didn’t realize the amount of mana required to disarm it was recklessly pouring mana into it, there was no way a magic circle could absorb so much mana at once.

Mamil was puzzled by the unexpected development, but the feeling didn’t last long.

“Wow, a clear sky! This is the first blue sky I’ve seen in a while? I love it, I love it!”

“Shut up, Sandy. It’s the kind of sky you’re going to get tired of seeing anyway, so don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“C’mon, you sound like you’re getting all excited when you say that.”

Strange voices cut through the fading vibrations. Mamil sensed vast amounts of demonic energy rising from the magic circle that covered the ground. The demonic energy curled around the ground like smoke, rapidly spawning demons and monsters.

“Edward, look! That blue sky! Those clouds look like Edward’s ass!”

“Focus on the humans in front of you.”

“Look. ……Hahaha! They’re exactly the same!”

The most striking thing was the three High Demons that appeared side by side. A combination of two men and a woman, they stood out from the crowd of enemies, and it wasn’t just because of their gorgeous appearance or their enormous size.

‘I’ve never seen wings that big before.’

They had a pair of wings that were unusually large and powerful for any other High Demon. Unlike the wings of other High Demons, which resembled the wings of a bat, theirs were massive, like the wings of a black swan, but covered in soft, dense feathers. Their jet-black feathers even glistened.

Decadent wings reminiscent of fallen angels, their distinctive wings made them look less like demons and more like judges of sin.

Was wing size proportional to combat power? He had never seen or heard of such research results. On the contrary, all of the tricky High Demons he’d faced had wings that were small compared to their size, and yet their wings were unrivaled, enough to overwhelm their opponents.

‘Where do they plan to attack first? There are only three High Demons that I can see so far. But there’s no telling how many more High Demons will appear in the future. Things more serious than the demons may appear, and dangerous magic may be activated.’

The range of the magic circle was too wide. The number of enemies being summoned could not be discerned with the naked eye. It was only vague enough to make the ominous assumption that some part of the Demonic City might be summoned.

Better to wait for reinforcements and prioritize defense for now, Mamil decided, turning to Cadel.

“……?”

He expected Cadel to know what was going on as soon as the magic circle was triggered, and to be the first to create a barrier over his subordinates, dead or alive. But in Mamil’s eyes, Cadel was far from what he was expected to be.

He did nothing, just stood there, staring blankly at the new High Demons. No barrier around him, no attempt to draw mana. He stood frozen in place, like a frightened child.

Was this some sort of ploy? He didn’t think so. For in Cadel’s face, as he gazed at the demons, there was a stark fear that surprised even Mamil.

* * *

The magic circle he had feared would be activated became a reality, and demons, monsters, and even High Demons began to be summoned one after another. It was earlier than expected, but not unexpected, and yet Cadel was unable to react. A system window popped up as he had just finished pouring an uncontrollable amount of mana over the summoning circle, and dismissed it with difficulty.

「System Error! Unauthorized external force detected.」

「System is damaged. Recovery is required.」

「Entering self-recovery mode. System is temporarily shut down.」

「System unique buff ‘Will of Cadel Lytos’ is being disabled.」

「Time remaining until recovery: ???」

The system that hadn’t missed a beat since he was transmigrated to this world had, for the first time, disappeared.