The battlefield trembled as Kael and Seaberry stood on the verge of direct confrontation. Brown immediately advised Kael to leave and hunt down Count Morgan, insisting he would handle Seaberry alone. Seaberry rejected the idea outright. She had no interest in fighting Brown—her confidence lay in her belief that Kael was unqualified to face her benefactor, Count Morgan. Kael merely looked at her with mocking disdain and warned her not to drag others into her foolish pride.
Sensing the immense demonic energy Seaberry had accumulated, Brown prepared himself. As a necromancer attuned to dark forces, he enveloped his own body in dense demonic energy, transforming into a close-combat battle mage. Wielding his divine-tier iron staff, Brown clashed violently with Seaberry, who fought with two short swords infused with corruption. Their weapons collided repeatedly, releasing shockwaves that tore apart the battlefield. Meanwhile, Kael departed with thirty Death Knights to locate Count Morgan.
In the capital, Pallas, Thorne, and Elian reinforced the king and the Ghost Knights. Elian provided deadly long-range precision, Thorne dominated mid-range combat, and Pallas—fully transformed into her dragon form—summoned six phantom clones to multiply her battlefield presence. Entire monster waves were erased under dragon fire and overwhelming force.
However, the Count Morgan commanding the invasion was not truly present. The figure directing the assault was merely a clone double. The real Count Morgan had already left the Eldrathin Continent and crossed into the Demon Realm. His declaration of war had a singular purpose: the Outer Gods, known as the Wanderers, had promised him ascension among their ranks if he succeeded in killing the Heir of Celestia. Throughout all of this, the Demon King remained silent, watching the conflict unfold with calculated interest.
As Kael and the Death Knights pressed deeper into the battlefield, they encountered the demons responsible for the destruction of Gesture Village. The group included the Crimson Vanguard, an armored female demon, a silk-robed demoness, a young barbed-tail demon, a heat-radiating red demon, Mahazma demons, elemental demons, a two-headed poison demon, a succubus, and a gunslinger demon. The clash was immediate and brutal.
At the western gate, disaster struck Ember's forces. Mahazma poison spread rapidly through the battlefield, infecting 620 knights. Vex rushed to respond but lacked enough healing potions to counter the toxin. Time was running out—without immediate intervention, every poisoned knight would die. Ember possessed only minor healing abilities. Luminor lacked wide-area healing magic, and Arden alone could continue fighting due to his poison resistance.
Hope arrived unexpectedly.
Two adult dragons—masters of defense and healing magic—soared across the battlefield. Vex urged Ember to draw their attention, despite her doubts. Dragons rarely interfered with mortal conflicts. Nevertheless, Ember attacked, provoking them. The enraged dragons prepared to annihilate her outpost—until Vex revealed an emblem Pallas had entrusted to him before leaving for the capital.
Recognizing the emblem as belonging to the Third Dragon Prince, both dragons halted instantly. After Vex explained the emergency, the dragons agreed to help. Before departing on a divine mission assigned by the Gods of Eldrathin, they unleashed powerful healing magic across the battlefield. All 620 knights were cleansed of poison, fully restored, and granted layered buffs and permanent stat enhancements. Ember felt her vitality surge as her strength rapidly recovered.
After the dragons departed, Ember, the healed knights, Vex, Luminor, and Arden regrouped. Meanwhile, the eastern gate descended into chaos. The Guild Master and adventurers were being overwhelmed by a colossal Urge Monster that controlled lesser creatures and reanimated fallen monsters. Despite activating a powerful skill known as Converter to restore stamina and defense, the Guild Master was struggling and requested reinforcements.
Kael was unable to assist—he was still engaged against the elite demons from Gesture Village. In response, Brown deployed twenty cloaked undead shadow mages to the eastern gate, providing healing, shielding, and defensive support for the Guild Master and adventurers.
In the capital, Pallas continued her devastation. Dragon fire rained endlessly, while her six phantom clones dismantled enemy formations with ruthless efficiency.
The war dragged on for four relentless days. Vast stretches of forest outside REF Territory were reduced to wasteland. Corpses of monsters and wounded knights littered the land. Though exhausted, Kael continued fighting. Of the ten elite demons he faced, seven had fallen. Only three remained—but their resistance grew fiercer with every passing hour.
Unseen by most, a critical truth lingered.
The Kael fighting the demons was only a clone, pushing his abilities to their limits. The real Kael had slipped through the chaos, searching relentlessly for Count Morgan amid the endless monster waves.
At last, Kael came face to face with a Count Morgan clone double—one that perfectly mimicked the real man's presence. The clone spoke calmly, demanding the return of his daughters and insisting they were innocent of all wrongdoing.
Kael listened in silence.
The real confrontation was about to begin.