The eldest grandson of the Duke of Leston, Hugo Leston, led the Oceanwolf Knight Order as he shouted urgently, "Hold the line until the Grand Purification Magic Circle is activated!"
At his side stood Amy, a knight of the Imperial Guards, barking out orders in a voice laced with fury. "Form up between the Oceanwolf Knights! Fill the gaps!"
In the center of the capital, the Grand Purification Magic Circle had been activated. It blazed with white-hot brilliance. It was a miraculous spell, jointly cast by mages and priests to purge the entire city of the dark mana that had descended like a plague.
Shrill, piercing screams echoed through the streets.
Kyaaaaak!
Screeeeech!
Monsters, grotesque abominations that had crawled up from beneath the earth, charged toward the spell formation. But both the Oceanwolf Knight Order and the Imperial Guards stood firm, letting not a single creature slip through.
A deadly plague was ravaging the capital. Hugo recalled what the priests had identified as its primary vectors.
Insects, he thought.
The plague spread at a terrifying pace. Already, nearly one-tenth of the city's population had fallen ill.
It was nearly impossible to contain, but there was no need to despair. The empire had prepared meticulously for a day like this. Even a plague born of dark mana had been accounted for in their contingency scenarios.
Boom!
A streak of blue aura exploded from Hugo's sword, severing the head of a lion-shaped beast in a single swing.
Another monster pounced at Hugo from behind, but it was shredded apart by a barrage of moonlight unleashed by Amy.
Once rivals, the two elite orders now fought side by side against a common threat.
Since the Crown Prince's assassination—known as the Second Rebellion of the Malevolent Emperor—the Oceanwolf Knight Order and the Imperial Guards had clashed often in tournaments. Ever since the Oceanwolf Knights were first stationed at the royal palace, joint training exercises between the two had become a monthly tradition.
They had become highly aware of each other, and thus deeply understood each other's swordplay. And so, on this battlefield, they moved as one.
Boom!
With the Oceanwolf Knights at the front, engaging the strongest enemies head-on, the Imperial Guards followed close behind, dispatching their foes with breathtaking efficiency.
Shing!
The contrast between their fighting styles produced a synergy that was nothing short of spectacular.
"Don't fall back! Push forward!"
"Break their formation!"
Knights were among humanity's most powerful assets. They were warriors who had long surpassed the limits of the human body. And now, the empire's two most elite knight orders were working in tandem to drive the demonic monsters back.
Hidden among the monsters were demons, hurling curses and dark magic.
"...I'll deal with the demons myself!" Hugo shouted.
Without hesitation, he dove straight into the enemy lines and beheaded one demon after another. Though it had been a while since his last real battle, he showed no signs of hesitation.
This is far easier than fighting Caron, Hugo thought.
The days he had spent at Azureocean Castle had been far more hellish. Back then, not only had he faced warriors of 8-Star caliber, but he had also been surrounded and tormented by the knights trained personally by Caron—those so-called Avengers.
Group combat no longer felt unfamiliar. Caron had emphasized its importance endlessly...
"You're not always going to get a one-on-one duel. Once you're in the Demon Realm, you'll often have to lead others in battle. You'd better get used to that kind of fight, don't you think?"
Hugo had been injured and broken a thousand times over, and all of it had built up into hard-earned experience.
People said there was a gap between training and real combat. And that was true... unless the training was worse than hell itself. In that case, the gap narrowed to almost nothing.
Boom!
Hugo severed the head of a demon that had come at him with black claws, biting down hard on his lip as he thought, I can't afford to get hurt by the likes of these.
They only had to endure a bit longer.
Hugo wondered how loudly Caron would scream at him if he got injured in a fight like this. He feared Caron's fury more than the demons' attacks. That lunatic didn't care whether you were his older cousin or not.
Which was why Hugo stayed sharp, fully immersing himself in the battle.
"Protect the Young Master's flank!"
"Don't let him get isolated!"
The Oceanwolf Knights charged forward, following the path Hugo had carved. And right behind them, the Imperial Guards moved in to secure their advance.
The sheer force of will radiating from the knights was enough to make even the demonic monsters stagger. And along the path they opened, massive spells rained down, cast by the mages of the Magic Tower.
Boom!
The combined destruction unleashed by knights and mages devastated the enemy lines.
And soon, the Grand Purification Magic Circle was complete.
"Magic circle fully charged!"
"Activating Grand Purification now!"
Flash!
In a brilliant burst, the concentrated holy and magical energies exploded outward from the circle.
The spell's design was simple yet miraculous. It was a way to amplify holy power condensed by the priests and spread it across the capital via magic.
This so-called miracle, secretly developed by the Holy Kingdom and the empire's Magic Tower, succeeded in what even the Grand Saintess herself couldn't achieve alone: True divine purification, executed by hundreds of priests and mages working as one.
Kyaaak!
Skreeee!
Wherever that light touched, monsters began to melt alive, and the insects that carried the plague vanished without a trace the moment they came in contact with it.
"Advance!" Hugo ordered.
The surviving demonic monsters were left in disarray. Most were barely holding on.
With the activation of the spell, the tide had turned, and the knights—sensing victory—pressed their assault with even more ferocity. Their swords shone brilliantly, a final judgment descending upon the darkness.
***
"Grand Purification Magic Circle activated."
"Purge complete in Capital District Two."
"Purge complete in District Four."
"Purge complete in District—"
One after another, voices crackled through the communication orb with reports of victory.
The plague's spread had been halted thanks to the Grand Purification Magic Circle, and a full-scale counteroffensive had begun.
By now, countless armed forces had poured into the capital. The warriors who had participated in the martial tournament volunteered eagerly to restore order, and the emissaries dispatched by the other races—including the beastkin and tiger clans—joined in as well.
Victory had been guaranteed from the start. The only question had been how much damage they would sustain, and how quickly they could recover.
"Grrr... Just kill... Kill me already..." one of the demons begged.
"Why would I? I have no reason to make things easier for you," Caron said with a cold smile. "Having a tough body is a curse. Biting your tongue won't kill you anyway, will it?"
Still smirking, Caron tucked the communication orb back into his pouch of dimensional space.
It was an overwhelming victory. And the result was more than satisfying, considering how thoroughly they had prepared.
The full aftermath would become clear only after the battle ended, but judging from the flood of success reports coming in from every district, the outcome seemed to have exceeded expectations.
Splurt.
Caron drove Guillotine, his blade, straight into the torso of a demon.
It was a particularly pale-skinned one. Of the three demons who had entered the minister's office, this one alone had survived. The other two lay scattered across the floor, mutilated beyond recognition.
"Grandfather, are you all right?" Caron asked, loosening his grip on Guillotine to glance back at Gyle.
It was a scene soaked in blood and viscera. It was so gruesome that most would turn away in horror. Caron worried that Gyle would be shaken.
But Gyle's expression remained surprisingly calm. He could've averted his gaze, but instead he stared squarely at the demons' corpses.
"This isn't good for your mental health, Grandfather," Caron said with a faint grimace. "You should try to see only beautiful things."
Gyle firmly shook his head, then replied, "If this is the future you'll face, then I, as your grandfather, must face it too. You're going to walk through this hell eventually, aren't you?"
"I just wish you'd only ever see peaceful things," Caron said.
"You're a good boy. But don't worry. My brother-in-law is Grand Duke Halo. If this kind of scene were enough to make me faint, I'd have died decades ago," Gyle said with a smile.
Gyle took in every drop of demonic blood splattered across the minister's office. The stench of iron, the hellish atmosphere... Perhaps this was what the underworld looked like.
The knights standing guard gave off an aura so cold they barely seemed alive. Blood was everywhere, and a battlefield had turned into a butcher's den.
The path Caron will walk... Gyle thought.
But this scene was nothing compared to what lay ahead for his beloved grandson. And so, he had to face it head-on.
If Caron chose to march into hell, then Gyle intended to walk right behind him.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Gyle asked warmly.
Caron waved a hand and grinned, then answered, "Please. These low-level demons couldn't even scratch me. Don't worry."
Gyle wondered when Caron had grown so much. There was a calm confidence about Caron, the air of someone truly powerful.
Gyle let out a soft chuckle and pointed at the surviving demon, then asked, "What do you plan to do with that one?"
"Demons can feel pain, you know. They tend to hold out better than humans, but... Torture still works. The Magic Tower's already tested that," Caron answered.
Information about the Demon Realm was still painfully lacking. Just as the Dark Magic Tower Master Libre had tortured a demon to extract intel alongside the empire's mages, this one would serve the same purpose.
Caron stared into the demon's writhing body that was impaled on Guillotine, his eyes gleaming. He added, "Also makes for good emergency rations."
"...Emergency rations?" Gyle asked.
"My sword absorbs dark mana. So I've been working on a few strategies. Once I enter the Demon Realm, I'll be fighting every day, right? I might as well carry one of these around like a lunchbox, in case I run out of energy," Caron explained.
"Hmm... Caron," Gyle called out.
"Yes?" Caron asked.
"Even the Demon King would applaud that kind of ingenuity," Gyle replied.
"You're too kind, haha," Caron laughed.
Gyle couldn't help but be impressed by his grandson's twisted brilliance. Caron treated demons as beings lower than animals, and Gyle shared the same view.
These were the monsters that had dared to attack the empire in broad daylight. It was no mystery why Caron hated them with such passion. Had the empire not been properly prepared, the casualty count would've been catastrophic.
For the safety of the empire... No, of the entire continent... Gyle thought.
The Demon Realm had to be destroyed. Otherwise, this cruel nightmare would keep repeating.
"But these knights... What exactly are they?" Gyle asked, gesturing to the dark, ominous figures nearby. It was his first time seeing the Avengers.
Caron scratched his cheek and replied, "You can think of them as my personal knight order. I released them from their torment as Death Knights and made them my own. They're the ones who'll be going into the Demon Realm with me."
"You must've saved their lives," Gyle said.
"They owe me, yeah. I treated them real well back at Azureocean Castle," Caron said proudly.
Perhaps it was just Gyle's imagination, but it seemed as if some of the Avengers visibly shuddered at those words.
To make even undead knights recoil... That was truly Caron Leston.
"Guillotine, are we good to go?" Caron asked.
"Yes," the sword responded. "I've sealed off its consciousness, so suicide is out of the question."
The surviving demon now hung limp like a corpse.
Caron casually stuffed it into his pouch of dimensional space, then raised the communication orb and said, "This is the Minister of Finance's office. The situation has been resolved as of this moment."
Not long after, a voice rang through the orb.
It was Grand Duke Halo. "How is your grandfather?"
"He's safe," Caron answered.
"Good. Caron, Azureocean Castle is currently under attack by a large monster horde. It seems they took advantage of our absence and made their move," Halo continued.
Even upon hearing this, Caron's expression didn't change. He said, "Clever of them. Understood, Grandfather."
"Escort Gyle to the Imperial Palace. We'll discuss further there," Halo added.
"Yes, I will," Caron said.
As the call ended, Gyle turned to Caron, his brows furrowed with concern. He asked, "Did I hear that right? Azureocean Castle's under attack... Is everything truly all right?"
"Don't worry about it. Just in case, Grandfather had already issued a full mobilization order," Caron replied.
The elders of the Leston family, those who'd been spending their twilight years across the continent, had all gathered at the castle. With the exception of those guarding the North Sea, nearly the entire force had assembled.
An attack on Azureocean Castle now was practically suicide.
Caron smirked as he lifted Guillotine. And then...
Slash!
Caron cut open his own right thigh.
Gyle screamed in horror and asked, "What in the world are you doing?!"
"Ah, I'm just getting ready for negotiations," Caron answered.
"Negotiations? With that?" Gyle asked.
"Once we're at the Imperial Palace, all the national leaders will be meeting to discuss a joint response. If I show up bleeding everywhere, looking as if I barely survived, they'll fold instantly. Don't worry—it doesn't hurt much."
A madman who didn't care what he had to do to win.
Caron grinned wickedly and gave a slow, confident nod.
There truly was no one else like him.