Raon gritted his teeth as he looked at the Black Tower Master, who seemed to have become darkness itself.
'That was close.'
Just moments ago, when the Black Tower Master broke through the ceiling and descended, an immense demonic energy pressed against his entire body. Normally, he wouldn't have been able to move a finger, but Wrath's anger cleared his mind and gave him the strength to move his body.
'Thanks to that, I was able to kill Karet.'
The Black Tower Master was confident in his demonic energy, so he didn't use his full power when attacking. Like an elephant carelessly stepping on an ant, he merely swung his hand enveloped in demonic energy.
Karet also fully trusted the Black Tower Master, so he didn't actively defend himself and only retreated.
'That was his downfall.'
He seized that opportunity, deflected the Black Tower Master's hand, and sliced Karet's neck. If those two hadn't let their guard down, the owner of the fallen head would have been different.
"Ah..."
The Black Tower Master trembled, looking not at Raon but at the lifeless Karet. The sorrow emanating from him seemed to darken the entire tower. He must have had a deep affection for the butler that raised him.
'Well, that's why...'
Raon glared at the Black Tower Master, tightening his grip on the Divine Sword.
'He came down here even though he hadn't completed his magic.'
From what he could sense, the Black Tower Master hadn't finished the magic he was preparing. He had forcibly broken through the ceiling to prevent Karet's death, but failed, so the psychological shock must be significant.
'Then it would be good to provoke him a bit more.'
Even if Transcendents have strong minds, they can't withstand the death of someone close. He didn't expect the worst demon, the Black Tower Master, to be so saddened by his butler's death, but now seemed like an opportunity to exploit that weakness.
-It would be wise to be careful.
Wrath narrowed his eyes as he looked over the Black Tower Master.
-That one is twisted in many ways, but his power is real.
He shook his head, saying that avoiding the first attack was just luck.
'I know. But I can't miss an opportunity like this.'
Raon bit his tongue as he stood before the Black Tower Master.
"Does a demon like you have emotions too?"
He twisted his lips as he watched the trembling Black Tower Master.
"After trampling on the fates of countless people, you mourn the death of trash? It's not even worth a laugh."
Raon gritted his teeth, remembering Rensia who, even as she was dying, asked him to take care of her siblings.
"A worm like you doesn't have the right to grieve. Just die, showing only your evil."
There was no reason to sympathize with the Black Tower Master just because he knew sorrow. No matter what emotions he harbored, he was still evil.
"I won't kill you..."
The Black Tower Master slowly raised his gaze. Above his red eyes, flames of hatred were burning.
"I'll trap everyone you know in the flames of hell and make them suffer pain darker than death."
He uttered these words like a curse and stretched out his hand. His blackly rippling grasp fell towards Raon's head.
"Your head will fall first."
Raon bit his lip as he watched the Black Tower Master's hand descending slowly.
'I can't dodge this.'
It wasn't that his body wouldn't move. He wasn't confident he could avoid that hand no matter where he moved. He felt a flow of demonic energy different from the first attack.
"Raon!"
Karoon, as if he had come to his senses, forcibly moved his trembling hand and swung his sword down. His desperate sword strike broke through Black King Sigel's defense and struck the Black Tower Master's darkness. Although it didn't shake the darkness surrounding the Black Tower Master, it was enough to bring him back to his senses.
Raon held his breath and bent his knees. He thrust the flames of the Divine Sword and the frost of the Demonic Sword towards the approaching grasp of the Black Tower Master.
'If I try to escape clumsily, I'll be caught. Here, I need to use my full power!'
If he couldn't escape perfectly, counterattacking was the best defense. Now was not the time to retreat, but to break through with full force. He unleashed the Azure Sky Sword with the Divine Sword and the Celestial Thunder Arts with the Demonic Sword. The lightning of the heavens enveloped both swords, allowing him to slightly deflect the Black Tower Master's darkness.
Raon didn't miss that slight opening and used the Supreme Harmony Steps to move to Karoon's side.
"...Thank you."
Raon thanked Karoon without looking back at him.
"It wasn't me. Just focus on what's in front of you."
Karoon waved his hand, saying the unnecessary thanks were done.
"No. If you hadn't helped, I would have been caught immediately."
He wasn't trying to be humble. If Karoon hadn't momentarily drawn the Black Tower Master's attention, he would have been caught in that darkness and lost his life.
"Well, the little rats have gathered nicely."
As the Black Tower Master twitched his fingertips, black flames rose and trapped Raon and Karoon. It was a cage made of Black Flame. Raon struck the black flames with his Divine Sword, but the cage only shook slightly without breaking.
"Hmm..."
Even Karoon's Transcendent-level sword strike couldn't cut through the black flames.
-You can't cut it like that.
Wrath slightly raised his eyebrow as he looked at the black flames.
-This isn't just a manifestation of demonic energy, it's magic.
He shook his head, saying to look properly and erase it.
"I won't kill you."
As the Black Tower Master raised his fingertips, the cage made of black flames began to shrink rapidly. The Black Dragon Coat burned, and the harsh heat seeped even into the uniform. It truly felt like he had brought the flames of hell.
"I'll make you watch as your families die in that place."
The Black Tower Master revealed a massive evil as if he would really bring all of Raon's acquaintances and kill them.
'Look properly and erase it?'
Wrath wasn't one to speak nonsense. If he said to look properly and erase it, it meant there was a way to overcome this situation. Raon activated his Evil Eye of Wrath.
'I can see it.'
He could read the flow of demonic energy forming the black flames. He could see exactly where and how to cut.
'But I can't cut it like this.'
He focused on the frost emanating from the Demonic Sword.
The silver-flashing blade cut through the black flames, splitting the cage that had trapped him and Karoon in half.
"What..."
The Black Tower Master's eyes widened, as if he couldn't imagine the cage made of Black Flame being split.
"Now!"
Raon gestured to Karoon and kicked off the ground.
"Mm!"
Karoon had noticed even before the signal and escaped the Black Flame cage that was trying to close again.
"Haa..."
Raon licked his lips as he looked at the white-burning Demonic Sword.
'It's fortunate that this is the Black Tower.'
The demonic energy of the Black Tower gave strength not only to the demonized humans but also to himself. If he had been trapped in that cage elsewhere, he wouldn't have been able to break out.
"What did you just do?"
Karoon narrowed his eyes, as if he couldn't understand.
"I was lucky. More importantly, now we should..."
As Raon was about to say they should focus on evasion, a small spark clinging to the Black Dragon Coat suddenly flared up and enveloped his entire body.
"Ugh!"
Karoon too was surrounded by flames that rose from the spark remaining at the end of his uniform.
"You think you've escaped?"
The Black Tower Master sneered and shook his head. As his eyes narrowed, the Black Flame enveloping Raon and Karoon began to burn more intensely.
"Hmm..."
Raon bit his lip as he looked at the Black Flame obscuring his vision. It wasn't normal magic to create a prison that could trap Transcendents from a spark the size of a fingernail.
'This is dangerous.'
Unlike the previous cage, there wasn't even space to swing a sword. The heat had also intensified more than twice, making it difficult to breathe.
"You won't be able to escape that place even in death."
As the Black Tower Master said he would make them feel the hell of the mortal world and clenched his fist, the moment the Black Flame prison, thickened like chains, was about to fall on Raon and Karoon's skin, a blue light shot up from the inner pocket. The candy stored in the pocket broke, and the space where the Black Flame was falling split open.
From the torn space, a girl wearing a large witch's hat walked out. It was Chamber of Eternal Flame, the archmage who had been waiting outside the tower.
"It's not good for an old man to play with kids."
Chamber smiled and snapped her fingers, causing the black flames that had been trapping Raon and Karoon to fall like black paper. It was an ability that seemed more like illusion magic than magic.
"Your opponent is right here."
She said to fight her properly and tilted her chin. As Chamber grasped her staff, an elegant cyan light enveloped her. That majestic radiance pierced through the darkness of the tower and raised a blue sun in a world filled with demonic energy.
"You damn bitch..."
The Black Tower Master gritted his teeth, glaring not at Chamber but at Raon behind her.
"Bring that bastard to me before I tear your tiny body to shreds."
He stretched out his hand made of demonic energy, demanding that Raon be handed over. Despite the Black Tower Master's demonic energy being much stronger than before, it dissipated without penetrating Chamber's light.
"You've failed. This will be the end of our ill-fated relationship."
Chamber said she would erase the Black Tower today, curling up her lips.
"Yes, it will be the end."
The Black Tower Master nodded with a chilling smile.
"It will be the end of you!"
As he overlapped and rotated his hands, the demonic energy permeating this tower, no, this world, began to distort.
"This much demonic energy is enough to kill you all!"
The darkness swirling at the Black Tower Master's fingertips opened a black sky.
"Silent Spirit World."
* * *
"Phew..."
Burren sighed as he wiped the blood flowing from his forehead.
"We really almost died."
He shook his head as he looked at the demonized human who had died with his heart burst. Thanks to the combined efforts of all the Light Wind Palace members, they were able to kill the upper Floor Master, but the consumption of aura and stamina was significant. It was truly a difficult fight, befitting a Floor Master of the magic tower.
"Indeed."
Martha nodded as she leaned her back against the wall.
"That little bastard was disgustingly strong."
She lowered her eyebrows as she looked at the hand holding her sword.
"I'm exhausted..."
Runaan caught her breath as she bent her waist.
"But we have to go up..."
She pressed her lips tightly as she looked up at the ceiling.
"That's right."
Mark Goetun nodded as he shook off the blood from his sword.
"It's right for subordinates to take care of subordinates."
In fights between masters, even the smallest difference determines victory or defeat. They needed to go up and help Raon so he wouldn't have to use his strength elsewhere.
"L-Let's go..."
Despite his whole body trembling at the powerful demonic energy emanating from above, Dorian said they should go up.
"You look scared, are you okay?"
Krein let out a hollow laugh as he looked at Dorian.
"I'm not okay. But we have to go."
Dorian dry heaved, saying it was scary but right to go.
"Then let's go. I'll take the lead, follow me while stabilizing your breathing."
Trevin nodded and turned towards the door that led to the next floor.
"W-Wait a moment!"
Yua blocked Trevin and shook her head.
"S-Something's wrong."
"What do you mean, wrong?"
"The tower is wailing."
She trembled her lips, saying the entire tower was groaning.
"What are you talking about?"
Martha approached Yua and grabbed her shoulders.
"The walls, the ground, everything is trembling with fear..."
As Yua dropped shimmering tears, the floor shook and the ceiling began to collapse. The outer walls of the tower, which had remained intact even under Raon's sword, cracked like paper, revealing a vast space where enormous demonic energy was swirling.
The giant monsters that had been hovering over the Black Tower also began to distance themselves, as if they were afraid of the current situation.
"We need to get out of here! The tower is going to collapse!"
Yua shouted that they needed to leave quickly, seeming to sense the tower's changes through her hearing rather than her power.
"..."
The Light Wind Palace swordsmen looked at each other and nodded. Years of accumulated experience made them all trust the child's words.
"Everyone out of the tower!"
Following Burren's shout, the Light Wind Palace swordsmen threw themselves through the broken wall. In the open air swept by fierce winds, they looked up and felt as if a massive darkness was devouring this world. The demonic energy was so vast that it appeared small despite its enormity.
"What the hell is that..."
Martha's jaw trembled as she looked at the demonic energy turning everything black.
"W-Was this what the Black Tower Master was preparing?"
She gasped in astonishment at the magic of a different scale. The swirling demonic energy completely obliterated the tower they had just been in, generating even stronger waves.
"We really would have been in big trouble if we had stayed there."
Krein swallowed hard. If they had ignored Yua's words and remained there, they would have died without leaving a trace.
"B-But what do we do now? If we fall like this, we'll die or be seriously injured..."
Dorian swallowed dry saliva as he looked at the ground covered with the corpses of Demonic Beasts.
"I'll take care of that."
At the clear voice that didn't match the situation, they turned to see Chamber with a candy in her mouth.
"C-Chamber!"
As Chamber nodded with a smile, the bodies of the Light Wind Palace swordsmen falling at high speed descended very slowly to the ground.
"Haaa..."
Burren exhaled a long breath and fell to his knees on the ground.
"I-Is it over now?"
He looked up at Chamber as if asking if it was all done.
"No."
Raon answered instead of Chamber.
"It's just beginning."
"What do you mean it's just beginning..."
Krein blinked as if asking what that meant.
"It can only be the beginning."
Raon brushed back his blood-soaked hair as he looked at the black sky that had swallowed the Black Tower.
"Because the door to the Devildom has been opened."