* * *

“The technique will be finished soon. More than half of our forces will be reduced.”

The amount of demonic energy flowing into the ground through the sword noticeably decreased. Garuel’s complexion also worsened. It was because he was using a high-difficulty technique that consumed a large amount of demonic energy, and due to his complete lack of combat experience, he had failed to properly control the amount.

Once this [Dance of Souls] is finished, he would feel significant fatigue even from using basic healing spells for a while.

‘Even in the game, using this ultimate technique would make it impossible to use skills until the stage ended.’

To turn the tide, such a penalty had to be endured. Cadel, standing next to the exhausted Garuel, placed [Ullo] down and spoke.

“As soon as the technique ends, you retreat to the rear. Don’t even think about fighting until you recover, and contact the allied forces in other regions.”

“But there are still knights who need healing spells……”

“You can’t save everyone with just your power. Don’t be greedy. Our goal is to enter the Demon Realm and secure the sealing stone. That’s it. Don’t forget the objective.”

“……Understood.”

Garuel was reluctant to withdraw from the battlefield like this, but there was no choice. In order for Garuel’s power to remain effective once they entered the Demon Realm, he had to conserve as much strength as possible.

‘Lumen must have gone with Yozen. Those two should be able to easily repel Arpa. The countermeasures for the red-haired one are already known, so it’s no longer a major concern.’

There was no time to waste. Cadel immediately planned to call Lydon to ask for a barrier. However……

“Ahaha! Aiden, Henge! Looks like you’ve finally gotten past the kid stage? With that level of power, you won’t have to worry about dying horribly.”

“Is that something you should be saying to a friend? How come you haven’t changed at all?”

“Yeah, yeah, Lydon. While you were gone, we’ve been training hard.”

Lydon, high in the air where Cadel’s voice couldn’t reach, appeared to be busy socializing with his kin. He attacked the enemies as if competing with his friends, and exchanged casual chatter with the warriors he hadn’t seen in a while.

Though it wasn’t the most ideal behavior in the heat of battle, that was exactly the kind of person Lydon was. For a moment, Cadel followed Lydon’s movements but eventually gave up calling out to him. If he detached a bit of Kunra’s power to create scale armor, his life wouldn’t be in danger.

Amidst the knights, each fighting their own battles, there were two men engaged in the fiercest combat.

“Rodin, Rodin, Rodin!”

Shouting the name of his fallen comrade, Arpa charged at Lumens with a fury that had completely replaced his previous composure. The fireballs raining down had no delay, and chaotic magic erupted from all directions. His wild, bloodshot eyes were focused entirely on Lumen.

Lumen furrowed his brow amidst the storm of attacks.

‘Dodging just the fireballs is difficult enough.’

The fireballs that kept coming felt like being thrown into a hellish inferno, choking him with heat. If he had to dodge the magic as well, he would have been overwhelmed long ago.

“The more excited he gets, the more openings he leaves. Take advantage of it, Lumen.”

A whisper from Yozen reached his ears as he swiftly dodged the incoming attacks. Lumen nodded briefly without responding.

The subtle, threatening magic attacks, barely detectable, were all being blocked by Yozen, who concealed his presence. If Yozen revealed himself, it could distract Arpa, but that wasn’t what Lumen wanted. Lumen wanted Arpa to focus entirely on him.

“Is there really any need to mourn your dead comrade? You’ll be joining him soon enough. Don’t grieve too much.”

“You arrogant bastard……! How dare you speak like that!”

Enraged by the insult to his fallen comrade, Arpa rushed at Lumen, his face reddened with fury. He grabbed blazing fireballs in both hands and hurled them toward Lumen, blocking his left and right. Two attacks came from both sides. Lumen twisted his body to dodge the one on the right, and with his sword, he slashed through the fireball coming from the left. If he had used his sword energy, the flames would have been cleanly cut and lost their power.

‘……It’s hot.’

The sword, unprotected by any energy, couldn’t withstand the shock and heat of the explosion. The blade bent slightly, and scattered flames enveloped his upper body. The intense heat made Lumen furrow his brow. Facing Arpa, who absorbed energy, he had no protective barrier.

He had to face a High Demon with nothing but his body and his swordsmanship. It was an unbelievably difficult battle, but Lumen did not give up. If he could defeat Arpa here……

‘I can lessen the burden on Leader.’

He couldn’t afford to falter just because he couldn’t kill one High Demon. He made a resolution. No matter what happened from here on out, he would give his life to ensure a happy future for Cadel. Therefore, he couldn’t even think of giving up yet.

“I’ll kill you, and then I’ll kill those fairies who killed Rodin, and then I’ll kill all of you humans who kept Rodin underground!”

“If you had rotted underground all your life, you wouldn’t have been blown to bits.”

“I’m going to kill you in the cruelest way, in the most gruesome way.”

He needed to close the distance. Without using sword energy, his footwork alone couldn’t inflict deep wounds. To deliver a fatal blow with pure swordsmanship, he had to approach close enough to deliver enough force.

However, Arpa, a master of ranged attacks, instinctively tried to increase the distance, positioning himself to gain the upper hand. Lumen hoped Arpa would lose more of his composure and charge directly at him.

“How can someone who’s been trapped in the Demon Realm his whole life have the confidence to think he can defeat me?”

“You’re the arrogant one, speaking as if you’ve never lived a life full of curses and resentment.”

“I think it’s your belief that your misfortune is the greatest arrogance. You’re not as great a species as you think. Your comrade, Rodin, was the same. That’s why she died so easily.”

“How dare you……!”

Arpa, lured by Lumen’s provocation, was consumed by rage. His eyes glowed with nothing but fury and bloodlust, leaving no room for deeper thought. Lumen, carefully calculating the narrowing distance, continued to block Arpa’s attacks.

‘I can’t avoid every attack and still close the distance.’

As Arpa was consumed by his fury, the number of attacks he unleashed increased. If Lumen hesitated or retreated, the meaning of his provocation would be lost.

‘Anyway, the dark energy will be blocked by Yozen. I’ll trust Yozen and just focus on avoiding the fireballs.’

Though it wasn’t particularly pleasant to feel like he was blocking Cadel’s attacks, Lumen felt a strange sense of satisfaction. From now on, he would never have to oppose Cadel. Even if it meant dying, he would never turn his back on Cadel. So, he would never face Cadel’s attack head-on.

In that sense, Arpa’s attack, infused with Cadel’s energy, was more than enough to satisfy Lumen’s desire and curiosity as a swordsman. As a martial artist, being able to face even a fraction of the most powerful magician’s power was an opportunity. It was a shame that he couldn’t use his full strength, but then again, Cadel wasn’t using his full power either.

‘Focus solely on the enemy.’

The pain he would feel from not avoiding the flames, the trajectory of attacks that could potentially be fatal, and the increasing explosion power as the distance closed—normally, all these elements would be things to keep in mind during a fight.

Lumen focused only on Arpa’s movements. The angle of his swinging arm, the slight tremor around his eyes before an attack, his line of sight, and the rhythm of his breathing. Everything stretched out like slow motion. Lumen’s innate dynamic vision caught every small movement of Arpa.

‘……There.’

Amidst the fireballs rushing toward him, a vacant spot on Arpa’s side became visible. The opportunity was once in a lifetime. The moment the fireballs obscured Arpa’s sight, Lumen had to strike that gap. If he failed, Arpa would never leave such a gap again.

Surrounded by flames filling his vision, Lumen made his decision. Despite the fact that if he were to face it head-on, the outcome could not be guaranteed, this one opportunity was the most important thing to him.

Instead of avoiding the oncoming firestorm, he widened his stance and moved through the flames. With his arm cutting through the flames without hesitation, his longsword, faster than light, aimed directly at Arpa’s exposed side.

It was a single, precise strike—more concise than ever before, with not a single stray thought. As the clear sensation of cutting through flesh and skin reached him, Lumen’s eyes widened in surprise.

Normally, charging straight through Arpa’s attack would have resulted in serious injuries. He couldn’t even request a barrier for fear of losing his energy. But the moment his strike landed, instead of the searing flames engulfing him, Lumen felt a coldness that neutralized the heat.

“It’s been a while, you damn human.”

Arpa’s body staggered as he quickly drew his sword, and Lumen, not missing the opening, cleanly slashed at Arpa’s throat. Arpa’s head slid off.

“You’re…….”

“Hmph, do you recognize me? Well, if you can’t remember after such an atrocity, you might as well just die.”

One wing was perfectly shaped, and made of dense ice crystals. Each movement of the wing made a crackling sound, like shards of glass clinking together.

Lumen looked up at the fairy standing opposite him. It was his first time seeing a humanoid figure, but he quickly recalled past memories.

The red hair, the round chubby cheeks, the freckles covering the nose bridge, and the cat-like upward curve of the eyes.

“……You’re that guy.”

“That guy?”

It was the fairy whose wing he had cleanly severed before. He had attacked without much thought, considering him a nuisance to Cadel. He never imagined he would meet him as an ally in a place like this. However, there was a bigger issue at hand.

“Don’t tell me, you don’t remember my name?”

“……”

“Hey! This is seriously ungrateful! I even set up a barrier for you! Just die! Just die already!”

Lumen had nothing to say. After hearing the fairy’s loud curses next to Arpa’s corpse for a while, he finally did what he was most confident in.

“Isn’t it fine if I just remember it from now on? Tell me your name. I’ll remember it until the day you die.”

“……!”

His beauty tactic. Lumen stepped over Arpa’s corpse and suddenly approached, extending his hand for a handshake. Most people, even Cadel, had often fallen under Lumen’s charm. But this time, it was a fairy whose wing Lumen had personally severed. Who would easily be swayed by the face of a mortal enemy?

“It’s Aiden, you damn human! I’ll never help you again! I didn’t come here to help humans, I came to kill demons! If it weren’t for Lydon, I wouldn’t have even flown this far! This is the worst!”

Aiden let loose every curse she could muster before flying off into the distance. Lumen clenched his empty fist, exhaling a frustrated sigh. While past conflicts remained, the help given in the present couldn’t be ignored.

“……I guess I’ll have to apologize later.”

As he muttered to himself, the volume of the battle cries that had once filled the air suddenly dropped. The change was so sharp that for a moment, Lumen wondered if there was an issue with his hearing.

With the cries fading, the knights who had been engaged in brutal combat began to fall one by one, like puppets with their strings cut.

Did Garuel use up all his demonic energy?

The battlefield, once full of allies, was now open. Lumen surveyed the scene. More than half of his forces were gone, and the enemy’s numbers had also diminished. Despite their exhaustion, the knights still burned with determination in their eyes.

The fallen had given their last ounce of soul to fight against the demons of the Demon Realm. If the survivors gave up now, it would dishonor their spirits. That resolve was enough to keep the warriors from dropping their swords.

“There are still many enemies left. Let’s find Van and Lydon.”

Yozen, having confirmed Arpa’s death, appeared. Lumen nodded briefly and looked upward. The red-haired demon, still hovering above, had been cutting down humans relentlessly, but with the appearance of the fairy warriors, her ability to fly no longer provided a significant advantage.

Lumen observed the fairy warriors surrounding the demon before shifting his attention back to his comrades. The battle was far from over, and he knew that the next move would be crucial.