I’ve already given a lot of thought to what I can do.
The possibility of unleashing all four demons, the likelihood of capturing all the demons there.
I know, it’s slim at best. But I didn’t think I’d end up meeting all four of them.
Kaitel could never fully trust Cain. To be precise, it’s more accurate to say that the Dead Dragon wouldn’t trust Cain.
Why would Cain stick with Kaitel?
It’s a relationship where they are both trying to use each other; there’s no way that kind of relationship is wrapped up in trust.
Naturally, I realized they would have to split. If they can’t trust each other, would they hand over all their power?
If the Dead Dragon had completely consumed Kaitel, the demons wouldn’t care much.
After all, the demons would follow the Dead Dragon’s control. However, to still have them around implies that
the Dead Dragon hasn’t fully controlled them yet.
A fight with a time limit, though I’m not sure how long that limit is… it might just be enough time to take a gamble.
“I knew it would come to this.”
The Imperial Army that had been knocking on the North Gate was nowhere to be found. Judging by the masked ones sprawled out, there had probably been an internal conflict.
“Rampage.”
Cain had more ambition than I expected.
I had sensed it from the moment he showed his true face, and I figured it out to some extent when he attached himself to Teresa.
The magic energy he brought this time was also familiar for a reason.
Their combat abilities would be the strongest. One I had already fought, and the other was a name I had monotonously read in books.
If the Minotaurus represents violence in confrontation, then Mephisto is the symbol of fear that subjugates merely by name.
Violence, fear, domination, and massacre. These four demons are encompassed by the Dead Dragon, the very symbol of doom.
It might sound fitting in a way, but this isn’t the time for such jokes.
What appeared amidst the writhing magic power wasn’t a demon.
Instead, Cain’s corpse sprawled out like a lifeless pile caught my eye.
In the end, it turned out he did something he couldn’t handle.
The North Gate was intact, and seeing a few lieutenants looking down over the area led me to conclude that Cain had ultimately failed to control the demons.
He must have thought he could do it.
But the Minotaurus was never even part of their control, as seen the moment it laid eyes on me and shattered its chains to challenge me.
I could do it.
My head throbbed. I had seen countless people die before, but this was close to a massacre.
The Imperial Army trampled under the immense power of the demons, not to mention those suspicious individuals wearing masks.
Well, I can’t say they are without sin.
At this point in the North, it could only be a fight to wipe them out or be killed by the demons.
Boom—
With a massive sound, the gazes of the lieutenants in the fortress shifted.
I too slowly turned my head towards the sound.
It’s rare for magic power to be visible so clearly, but sometimes the phenomenon of magic power tightly packed in a body leaking out occurred.
It was numbing. Just facing it gave an overwhelming sense of dizziness. Even though I had heightened my senses, the magic power emitted by the demons was unbearable.
Can I do it? I questioned myself. I soon realized that it was a meaningless question.
This is a battlefield where you must be prepared. Instead of holding doubts about whether I could do it, I needed to steel my heart a little.
I must do it. I need to take down two demons here and push towards the capital.
“Duke!”
Hearing Lothos’s voice, I turned my head; he was gesturing to me while pulling back our troops.
I had a rough idea of what he meant. He would retreat the army and wait for orders about whether to deploy the lieutenants.
The lieutenants also seemed to understand the intent behind my earlier actions, where I knocked Adele unconscious and handed her to them.
If they believed I wouldn’t betray them in the first place, I would be thankful. But even if not, it didn’t matter.
I gazed at the dark circles under my eyes, which had sagged from mental strain these past few days, and smiled wryly while shaking my head.
This action meant one thing only.
There would be no further retreat.
Realizing the meaning, Lothos hesitated for a moment before stepping back, and the Minotaurus, watching this, chuckled softly.
I didn’t think they would wait for this moment. The eyes of Mephisto beside me had sharpened significantly.
“I think we have waited long enough. It may be a bit too early to wrap up our last fight, but it seems you have no intention of retreating.”
“Of course not.”
“I no longer want to hear your nonsense, Minotaurus. Don’t we have work to do?”
As the crimson body turned even darker, a huff escaped from Minotaurus’s nostrils when it glanced over.
The white mist touched the ground, melting and burrowing in, as Mephisto’s gaze returned to me, watching the red-hot rocks.
“You’re the human who severed Minotaurus’s arm, aren’t you?”
“That’s right. It’s a shame I couldn’t kill him, though.”
If I had cut off his breath right then. No, forget it. That wouldn’t have been possible either. Even if it had worked, it would have been a mutual demise. And I hadn’t come this far without thought.
With the draw of my sword, a storm of magic power swirled around me. The time I spent at the Moon Tower was certainly not in vain.
Why had I cut off all contact?
How could I go for months focusing on my sword without contacting Adrian or Miragen?
It was all for this very moment. I stepped onto the stairs, and now it was time to reach the end.
As my sword moved slowly through the air, Minotaurus’s body tensed.
Now he should have a vague idea of how dangerous “this” thing I’m holding is and that if he lets it go, it could cost him his life.
“Be careful not to let your guard down-!”
Scratch.
The movement of Mephisto charging in came to a halt, and the body of Minotaurus, reaching out, was sliced away.
The soldiers gasped as they witnessed the minions of the demon being chunked apart, and the lieutenants displayed expressions of astonishment. And even the gaze of the demons, still fixed on me, was filled with killing intent.
Seeing so many things entwined, I pondered who would stand at the end of this fight.
#
Scratch.
Still, Robert was gaining the upper hand in the battle. Unlike before, the demons, grotesquely recovering their bodies, could not maintain their momentum as they focused on healing.
It came to a point where I could cut into the already severed parts, even as their regeneration slowed down. An unending relentless assault.
How many could withstand this in the world? As Minotaurus, who had endured the piercing strike, let out a chilling laugh.
The difference from our last encounter was like night and day. Even with his true power nearly restored, he couldn’t come close to me now.
“Mephisto..! You’re still alive, right?!”
“He’s definitely alive!”
“Alive, yes. That’s all there is to it.”
Mephisto, facing Robert’s magic head-on, replied with a sense of gravity.
Means to resolve this situation were rare. Just summoning him had already consumed a lot of magic power, leaving him far from being in tip-top shape.
Drawing out more power here was impossible. If he couldn’t recover what he lost, he would crumble under the strain.
Naturally, the nature of this fight couldn’t just stay the same.
There is no such thing as infinite attacks. If he could maintain this explosive magic power, he would have rather poured it all at once to blow up the Demon’s core.
The guy was not so foolish as to not understand that.
“Is this a form of containment?”
Or perhaps he was hoping for the magic consumed in recovery to vanish entirely.
Naturally, humans don’t know much about demons. It was a valid tactic.
The magic consumed in recovery was significant, especially if it was a demon like the Minotaurus who couldn’t handle magic properly.
Mephisto realized that the Minotaurus was struggling more than he expected and quietly looked at Robert.
And Mephisto’s thoughts were something Robert had already anticipated.
He probably thought this attack would cease someday. And that was true.
The magic was slowly running dry, and in a few minutes, he wouldn’t be able to do this at all. However, there was a reason for dragging this out.
‘Adrian had told me something.’
Recalling Adrian, memories of the time he came here were vivid, but it was true that he had received a lot of help.
Among that help, there were strategies effective in taking down demons.
To execute them, the most crucial task was to somehow delay that recovery.
To others, it might seem like I was overexerting myself, but it was one of the necessary processes.
At the Moon Tower, I never really reached the peak.
It’s true I had grasped some hints and made progress, but that didn’t mean I had broken through the wall and reached a new level.
Ultimately, I could only handle my magic more carefully than before.
By the time this attack ends, I would be able to unleash the strategies I had in mind afterward.
Seeing the bodies of the demons being torn apart, Robert quietly chuckled.
If he were to think about what would happen to them soon, there was nothing more delightful than that.
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