Even if Yozen had successfully broken through his limits, the [Oath of Immortality] was a technique he was trying for the first time. The side effects were completely unknown, so Cadel had no intention of letting him continue recklessly.

‘Then, I’ll have to act for now……’

While Yozen was protecting him, Cadel had to initiate the first strike. His eyes moved quickly as he fixed his gaze on a point in the sky.

‘Should I take that one out first?’

Long black hair interwoven with streaks of white. The name of that High Demon, whose hair color alone stood out, was Naviola. Unlike Lawrence Hywyl, who extended the lives of his kin with healing magic, she protected her people with a special barrier, blocking enemy attacks.

If she wasn’t taken down first, the attacks from Cadel’s side wouldn’t deal any damage to them. As Cadel sensed Naviola’s gaze met his, he smirked slightly.

‘In the game, no matter what attack she received, her priority was always to shield her allies with the barrier. Let’s see if she does the same in reality.’

Without warning, a red magic circle covered the sky. As the [Flame Arrow of the Fire Demon] was charged above the swirling magical formula, the High Demon’s gaze shifted. A massive amount of mana was gathering above them, but none of them showed any sign of attempting to evade.

The reason was obvious. Cadel sneered and fired the flame arrows without hesitation. Just before the sharp flames pierced the bodies of the High Demons, a mass of demonic energy bloomed above them, wrapping around their bodies like petals and deflecting the flames.

The translucent demonic energy protected the High Demons from the numerous flame arrows. The arrows that hit the barrier ricocheted and exploded like colorful fireworks.

Cadel’s attack appeared to have no effect, and the High Demons showed a relaxed, arrogant expression. As Cadel stared at Naviola, he reached out his hand.

‘Because of you, I’ve been holding back. I guess today’s the day I finally use it.’

Opening the [Inventory] for the first time in a long while, Cadel took out an item. Soon, a single flower appeared in his hand. It was the [Black Flower] he obtained after defeating ‘Mendel Haliev’. An item containing Mendel’s ability to crush and absorb everything it touched.

Cadel blew a light breath over the petals of the flower. As he did, the petals, darkened to pitch black, scattered effortlessly and flew up into the sky, following the mana of the wind.

The spiral-shaped petals landed atop the barrier that enveloped the demons.

Hoo—woong.

A low hum echoed, and the demonic energy that made up the barrier began to be absorbed into the petals. The barrier rapidly shrank, causing the High Demons to become agitated. Cadel, with a triumphant smile, increased the power of his [Flame Arrow of the Fire Demon].

The shrinking barrier couldn’t repair itself, and the petals, filled with energy, absorbed the barrier’s power more fiercely. One by one, the gaps in the barrier widened, and the now stronger flame arrows slashed through the bodies of the demons.

Confirming his attack was effective, Cadel’s gaze naturally shifted to Naviola. Now, she would likely gather her remaining energy to protect her kin. That’s when Cadel planned to fire the [Fire Chains] to bind Naviola and bring her before him to finish her off in one blow.

That was Cadel’s plan, but.

‘……What’s going on? Why is she like that?’

Instead of protecting her kin, Naviola was staring blankly into the air, trembling with a mixture of horror and anger, as if she had witnessed something she shouldn’t have.

Shaking as if intoxicated, she reached out toward something. The black flower petals. Without hesitation, Naviola grasped them and muttered, her lips trembling.

“Mendel, Mendel, my love…… Why…… Why is this beautiful flower……?”

Cadel would never know one crucial fact: Naviola and Mendel Haliev had long promised each other an immortal love. Even when Mendel stayed in the Human Realm, Naviola never once forgot him.

Now, realizing the fate of her other half, she had witnessed Mendel’s relic being used by a human. Cadel could never fathom how Naviola felt in this moment.

Ignoring the fact that her own energy was being drained, Naviola gripped the petals and glared with teary eyes.

“That human! He must be killed first! Everyone, attack that human! Now!”

Naviola, pointing directly at Cadel, shouted with venom. Not all of the High Demons followed her command, as they weren’t all aware of the extent of Cadel’s power. However, several demons, who had been cautious of Cadel from the beginning, immediately attacked, as if her shout had served as a signal.

“Wa, wait a minute, if they all attack at once……!”

To attack Naviola, other High Demons had to underestimate the power of the [Flame Arrow of the Fire Demon] and divert their attention elsewhere. That was why he had waited for Naviola to reinforce her barrier.

The barrage of demonic energy, weapons, and magic came pouring down as quickly as the flame arrows, and Cadel hastily created a barrier. The dark energy covering the barrier deflected all the incoming attacks, but it wouldn’t last long.

‘At this rate, I can’t even hold on for 15 minutes. What is going on with these High Demons?’

For Cadel, who was unaware of the story unfolding, it felt like a bolt from the blue.

“Leader! Come this way!”

“Commander, it’s dangerous!”

Cadel heard the voices of Lumen and Van, who had been waiting from a distance. Looking at his allies, who had been following his orders to retreat, he shouted, as though there was no other choice.

“I’ve temporarily weakened their barrier! We need to strike the High Demons now! Leave the ground forces to me, focus on the battle!”

If he couldn’t take down Naviola immediately, he needed to reduce the number of enemies while the [Black Flower] was still active.

‘Damn, I don’t know what’s going on, but……’

With Cadel’s opening move, the High Demons began to take action. Now that the full-scale battle had begun, he had to turn the tide before the 15 minutes were up.

Having so many enemies gather in each ongoing battle wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. At least not for Van. The blood he’d accumulated from the previous fights was more than enough, and there was no need to rush into one-on-one battles. Most importantly, Cadel had what seemed to be Yozen by his side.

Without hesitation, Van unleashed his aura. The technique he chose was [Scarlet Zone]. The moon of aura slowly rose, casting its light across the dark skies of the Demon Realm. The overwhelming gravitational pull, which absorbed blood, made the enemies panic.

“What is this?”

“It’s…… aura……! A human’s aura!”

“That’s the power of a berserker……? No way, a berserker couldn’t handle this much aura! There’s something else going on……”

Whether it was someone encountering a berserker for the first time or an experienced one, they were all thrown into confusion. The allies took full advantage of the opening. Intense attacks surged into the sky, and the demons, whose barriers were ineffective, quickly began to respond.

As long as [Scarlet Zone] was active, Van’s movements were restricted. The attacks aimed at him had to be dealt with by Lumen and Lydon.

“Why do I have to protect Van here? I want to help Cadel!”

“You can’t even get close to Leader anyway. Stop complaining and help.”

“I might be able to fly there. Garuel, you go protect Van. I’m leaving.”

“That would be difficult, Sir Lydon. I need to stay close and quietly deploy healing magic between you all. Could you please stay a bit closer and cover me?”

“Ugh, this is so annoying! I want to go to Cadel!”

Lydon whined like a puppy suffering from separation anxiety, but the battle raged on. Countless enemies and allies were tangled up in such a way that it was hard to distinguish which attacks were aimed at whom. They were merely protecting each other, blocking incoming attacks, and continuing the fight by targeting nearby enemies.

Despite this, the eyes of the party members occasionally glanced toward Cadel.

“Certainly, if it weren’t for Sir Yozen, this wouldn’t make sense. I wonder if something changed in him during that short time? I should ask him later about what kind of technique he used.”

The shadow that was undeniably Yozen’s skill was effectively protecting Cadel by slicing down all enemies that approached him. The dark energy, being the means of attack, was completely undetectable, making it seem like an inexplicable bloodbath was happening around Cadel.

Among the knights, the one whose potential was the hardest to gauge, yet was secretly acknowledged for their strength, was staying by Cadel’s side. So, the other members were obligated to follow Cadel’s orders and focus on attacking the enemies.

As the battle raged on, Van’s aura, Lumen’s sword energy, Lydon’s mana, and Garuel’s demonic energy were all shining brightly. It was only natural, but this led to an unfortunate result. A few sharp-eyed High Demons began to take notice of the Scarlet Scales Knight Order standing in opposition.

“……Tch.”

Lumen clicked his tongue and shifted his gaze from the sky to the front. And in the next moment, a heavy mass slammed into the ground, sending a loud echo through the air. A cloud of dust obscured the view for a moment, and through it, a large shadow slowly began to rise.

“I’m getting excited…… How much blood will spill if I crush you all at once? Just imagining it makes my whole body tingle with excitement!”

The demon before them was easily 2.5 times larger than the others, with a body resembling that of an ogre. His wings were torn and battered, looking like a ragged cloth. In his hands, which matched his immense size, he wielded a pair of axes that seemed perfectly suited for his frame.

With a playful swing of the axes, a gust of wind imbued with demonic energy shot out toward them. Reacting instinctively, Lydon placed a protective barrier around his comrades, grimacing at the sight.

“Ugly.”

Fortunately, it seemed the High Demon didn’t hear Lydon’s blunt remark. He raised his axes boldly and took a deep breath. The air he quickly inhaled filled his chest, making it puff up dramatically.

Sensing the danger, Lumen tried to warn everyone, but.

Whooooosh—

The powerful exhalation of the demon created an enormous gust of wind, propelling the axes forward with terrifying speed. The axes crossed in midair, aiming directly for the party members. Lumen, who was at the front, slashed with his sword, attempting to deflect the axes.

“Ugh……!”

The demon’s breath showed no signs of slowing down, and the axes, now accelerated to their limit, carried unimaginable power. The axes cut through Lumen’s sword energy and flew directly toward him.

Although Lydon’s barrier softened the blow, the sheer force was still overwhelming. It was impossible to hold on. Realizing this, Lumen quickly turned and signaled to retreat.

“……?”

Van, who should have been the first to withdraw and evade, was in an unusual state. The aura he had been recklessly summoning faded weakly, and his eyes, now dull, stared blankly into space. Even though Garuel urgently pulled at his arm, Van remained silent, stubbornly standing still, his face blank as he stared at something. Lumen furrowed his brows as he followed the direction of Van’s gaze.

“Haha, this is so much fun. Berserkers are so easy to manipulate. Now, handsome human, focus on my voice.”

The High Demoness, with her long, winding black hair and alluring appearance, stood out. As the wave of demonic energy rippled around her, Van’s motionless body began to move slowly. He lifted the greatsword in his grasp with sluggish movements, his stiff neck turning to face Garuel standing beside him.

“That fool is……! Sir Garuel! Avoid him!”

At the same time as Lumen’s shout, Van’s greatsword struck down at Garuel’s arm. Garuel barely managed to evade the attack, his face turning pale with shock. While Lumen had briefly taken his eyes off them, he was unable to withstand the stronger wind pressure and was violently shoved backward. Meanwhile, an axe that barely grazed its target slammed into the ground, causing it to shake.

Amid the rapidly collapsing Knight Order, a voice full of amusement rang out.

“Hmm, all even. I think I’ll add all of you to my puppet collection.”