“Is it an illusion? Why are there knights in that place……?”

Sorin, who had pulled back a moment later, muttered blankly while looking at the magic circle, and Hyron responded.

“It’s not an illusion.”

“Then, are you saying the knights are trapped inside the magic circle?”

“Well…… not exactly trapped inside the magic circle, but……”

Hyron’s expression hardened seriously as his gaze shifted somewhere. High above in the sky, something was fluttering down, descending slowly, without any sign of presence until now.

“Cadel. Get out of the magic circle.”

At Hyron’s words, Cadel, who had been about to dispel the magic circle, paused and stepped back. Van instinctively pulled Cadel behind him, and Lydon shouted toward the sky.

“You’re so slow! If you have wings, come down faster!”

In response to Lydon’s shout, whatever it was that had been descending slowly picked up speed and dropped rapidly. In an instant, a strong wind swept across the ground, and a clear voice pierced their ears.

“We’ve found a new prey! Toto will love this!”

As the strong wind caused his eyes to snap open, Cadel saw the owner of the voice. A High Demon with unkempt black hair, round red eyes, and a thin, frail body.

He spun through the air, hands behind his back as if observing the humans below. Then, he immediately pointed at one of them with his finger.

“You’re my type! When you’re about to die, make sure you scream. I’ll take your head just before you die.”

With the finger pointed directly at him, there was no confusion. Cadel let out a hollow laugh as he looked up at the High Demon.

“Usually, when someone is your type, don’t you spare them?”

“Ha, even if it’s my type, I can’t spare a human…… Oh wait. Should I raise you as a pet human? Maybe Sister Cynthi would even allow it?”

“Cynthi?”

“Yep! Ah, Cynthi is my sister, and my name is Kash! Cute, right?”

Kash was as lively in his actions as his voice, but Cadel’s expression remained cold as he watched. Meanwhile, Hyron, who had been listening to their conversation, quietly spoke to Cadel.

“It seems like they’re from the Solavis family. The High Demon who could transform her body into demonic energy was named Cynthi.”

Solavis again. Since this Kash was unfamiliar, it was clear that the Solavis family was a new group of demons added to Hell Mode.

‘How long am I going to keep running into new High Demons? Can I meet a familiar face already?’

At this point, Cadel was starting to long for the High Demons he had faced in the game. Just as he was about to try and extract more information from Kash, who claimed to be Cynthi’s sibling.

“I’ll admit my darling pretty, but don’t hit on him in front of me. It makes me want to kill you!”

Lydon, who had been staring intensely at Kash, suddenly launched an ice spear. Kash barely managed to twist his body to dodge it. After rubbing his arm where the spear had grazed him, he let out a high-pitched scream.

“You almost got me killed!! You rude fairy! You’re not even my type!”

“You’re not my type either! You’re ugly!”

“You’re ugly too! I think you’re the ugliest fairy out of all of them!”

“No? No one in this world thinks that. I’ve been told I’m beautiful my whole life!”

“I think you’re ugly! You’re the ugliest!”

Their childish exchange continued, and Van, who had been watching them, turned his head slightly and whispered to Cadel.

“His reaction speed is slow. He’s probably not a physical type.”

“……Then is he a magician? That guy might be the one controlling this magic circle.”

“If Commander binds his feet with chains, I’ll attack right away.”

Cadel nodded lightly. If the opponent wasn’t a physical fighter but a magician, they couldn’t afford to give them time to cast spells by creating distance. Quietly drawing upon his mana, Cadel prepared to launch [Fire Chains]. Just as he was about to focus on Kash, who had been distracted by Lydon.

“Toto! Teach this ugly, annoying fairy a lesson!”

With Kash’s sharp cry, the ground trembled. At the sudden vibration, [Fire Chains] shot through the air. Realizing the attack aimed at him just a beat too late, he soared into the sky at an incredible speed before he could react.

“I’ll chase after him! I’ll kill that ugly demon!”

There was no way to stop Lydon, who was chasing after Kash. The extreme vibrations made it difficult to even maintain balance. Cadel, clutching the hem of his cloak, barely managed to keep his feet grounded.

“When the hell is this going to stop?!”

“Sir Cadel, look over there!”

Through the nauseating tremors, Cadel barely managed to shift his gaze, and what he saw was—

“Huh……?”

A bright yellow wave surged, filling the entire forest slope. Its width was beyond measure, and its height was such that it could not be avoided unless one could fly. The enormous wave, so massive that it could whiten one’s mind just by looking at it, surrounded them on all sides and was about to crash down.

“Lord Hyron, the barrier!”

“Everyone, get as low as you can!”

Hyron hastily chanted and created a barrier to protect his allies. Cadel also layered a wind barrier over the ice barrier. And then, in the next moment—

“Wait, just a second……!”

The relentless wave crashed against the barrier. The wave turned their vision yellow, and Cadel’s eyes widened in shock. In his line of sight, which moved instinctively, he saw Hyron’s face, wearing the same expression as his own.

“The barrier……”

“It’s melting away.”

Following the ceaseless waves, Cadel could feel the barrier slowly melting. No matter how quickly they reinforced it, no matter how much mana they poured into it, it was useless. Even with the combined mana of the two magicians, the barrier couldn’t hold.

Cadel’s gaze shifted upward. As the transparent ice and wind barriers melted away, small holes began to form. Overflowing liquid squeezed through the holes and began to fall.

Just a single drop. The single drop of liquid that fell through the hole landed on a knight’s head. The knight, shuddering at the cold sensation, stiffened his expression in an instant.

“Bat, Battalion Captain, something’s wrong……!”

No sooner had he taken a step toward Sorin than his once-solid body began to melt away in an instant.

“Wha……!”

Without any scream or warning, the body disappeared in a hopelessly easy manner. Only a single drop of liquid had fallen onto him. At the shocking scene, unease flickered across the faces of the allies.

“Lord Hyron! Is there no way to make a stronger barrier?”

“It’s impossible in the current state!”

The knight who was hit by a single drop had melted away. If that liquid were to flood the inside of the barrier, it was clear to anyone what the outcome would be. Cadel hurriedly tried to call upon Kunra’s power to reinforce the barrier. However—

“Damn it, the barrier is collapsing!”

While pulling Kunra’s power, the wind barrier crumbled, and the ice barrier, barely holding up, cracked with a large fissure. The cracks, centered around the small hole, quickly spread and began to rapidly grow in size, causing the barrier to uncontrollably collapse.

The liquid that had surged in filled the space like a waterfall, pouring down from above.

“Commander…!”

Reflexively, as Van wrapped his arms around Cadel, Cadel squeezed his eyes shut.

In that brief moment, they had both covered themselves with scale armor, but Cadel didn’t feel any damage to the barrier. Had they already been too late? Was this how it was going to melt away? Was Lydon, who had chased after Kash, safe?

Feelings of emptiness, fear, and worry mingled and were soon drowned out by the loud, chaotic screams that followed.

The cries of humans and the howls of monsters struck Cadel’s ears wildly. At the noise that seemed to have no end, Cadel slowly lifted his heavy eyelids. The first thing he saw was Van’s face, which was holding him tightly.

Van was staring straight ahead with a grim expression. Despite the dark look on his face, Cadel felt a sense of relief that Van, who had been shielding him, was still unharmed.

“Van…….”

At the soft call, Van’s gaze shifted immediately. He briefly pulled Cadel’s head into a tight embrace before slowly releasing him. With that, the once-constrained view opened up, revealing a completely changed landscape.