With a deafening roar as if the world was collapsing, the demonic energy rippling in the sky opened a new dimension. Pitch-black demonic energy poured out from the dimension torn open like a snake's maw. It was as if a tree of darkness was taking root in this world.
The already dense demonic energy grew even thicker, creating a pressure that seemed to squeeze the heart. The flow of demonic energy was so strong that everything around seemed to melt into darkness.
"Black Tower Master..."
Raon bit his lip as he looked at the Black Tower Master standing in front of the door to the Devildom, the Devildom Pathway. The demonic energy that seemed capable of destroying the world had disappeared, but strangely, he felt that the man had become even stronger.
'He called it the Silent Spirit World, right?'
The magic called Silent Spirit World that the Black Tower Master had used moments ago seemed to do more than just open the Devildom Pathway; it also appeared to bestow special powers upon the demonized humans in this space.
"T-The Devildom Pathway has opened..."
Greer, who had been holding back the Demonic Beasts and demonized humans outside the tower, widened his eyes.
"Is that really true?"
He trembled, not even wiping the blood flowing from his forehead, as if he couldn't believe it.
"Yes."
Raon nodded calmly as he looked at Greer and Owen's knights.
"That black vortex swirling in the sky is the Devildom Pathway."
He raised his finger to point at the black dimension opened in the sky.
-To think they would open the Devildom Pathway from the Human World first...
Wrath let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.
-He's truly insane. He's not even thinking about the consequences.
He sneered, saying it seemed like the Black Tower Master's head was filled with dung instead of a brain.
'Is it that dangerous?'
Raon exhaled heavily and looked at Wrath.
-Of course! Even if not as strong as myself, demon king-level demonized humans or Demonic Beasts could suddenly appear, and if that gate were to explode, everyone here would die!
Wrath glared at the Devildom Pathway, twisting his lips.
-The fortunate thing is that the gate isn't complete. No, it would be more accurate to say it was made so that it can't be completed.
As he said this, he turned his gaze to Chamber. It was quite an admiring look.
'Besides demon king-level beings, won't actual demon kings come out?'
It seemed better to try to negotiate with the demon kings rather than deal with mediocre demons. However, Sloth was asleep on a mountaintop, Gluttony was touring ice cream shops, and Lust was likely lost somewhere, making it highly unlikely any of them were in the demon realm.
'Then there are three left...'
Envy wouldn't come out, and the remaining two absolutely must not come here. Greed and Pride don't respond to Wrath's name. Maybe Envy would, but if those two appeared, they'd have to consider retreating.
"The Devildom Pathway..."
Burren's lips trembled as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Yeah. Since we've come this far, we might as well fight the demons too."
Martha licked her lips as if she was looking forward to it.
"It'll be alright..."
Runaan comforted the anxious Light Wind Palace swordsmen while pushing back the icy demonic energy.
"To be precise..."
Chamber shrugged as she looked at the Devildom Pathway undulating like waves.
"It's an exit from the Devildom."
"A-An exit from the Devildom?"
Jayna, who had just landed on the ground, swallowed dryly as she knelt on one knee.
"Yes. You can't go in, you can only come out."
Chamber smirked, saying it was one-way traffic.
-It's as that old lady's child says.
Wrath nodded as he looked at the Devildom Pathway, which was becoming increasingly turbulent.
-It's a half-gate that can't be used to go from here to the Devildom, but can be used to come from the Devildom to here.
He flicked his tongue as if regretting something.
"Did you make it that way, Lady Chamber?"
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Chamber.
"Yes. I read a bit of his magic formula after you entered the tower."
Chamber nodded, saying she had read the Black Tower Master's thoughts and magic formula, and inserted a spell that could interfere with it.
"You read his thoughts too?"
"Yes. That guy opened that gate intending to escape to the Devildom when your old man comes while fighting us here. So I blocked the path so he can't escape."
She wagged her finger, saying the Black Tower Master's thoughts were too obvious.
"Ah, no, then wouldn't it be better to prevent it from opening at all..."
Dorian blinked, as if suggesting it would have been better not to open the Devildom Pathway at all.
"That's impossible. They were more prepared on that side. It was hard enough to block things from coming out."
She bit into a candy, saying that erasing the escape route was the best she could do.
"Of course, this isn't all."
Chamber chuckled, mentioning she had also removed one of the pillars of the Silent Spirit World.
"Then we have one more mission."
Karoon exhaled briefly and gripped his sword.
"Closing the Devildom Pathway. Though beheading the Black Tower Master remains the top priority, I suppose."
"Right. That hasn't changed."
Chamber nodded, seemingly impressed by Karoon's composure even in this situation.
"The Black Tower Master..."
Just as she was about to say more...A strange sound like thousands of people screaming simultaneously rang out, and the sky turned pitch black.
As the Devildom Pathway split completely, a pitch-black dragon wreathed in darkness burst out. It was on a different level from the miscellaneous Demonic Beasts seen so far. It was surrounded by a terrifying aura, as if one were seeing a real dragon.
The black dragon let out a majestic roar as if it would dominate this world, looking down at the humans on the ground.
"Noisy."
Chamber frowned and flicked her finger. The black dragon's neck was torn apart from the middle, and its massive body began to fall to the ground. The black dragon fell, unable to control its body as if instantly killed, and turned all the Demonic Beasts of the Black Tower into chunks of meat.
However, the invasion of Demonic Beasts was just beginning. Various Demonic Beasts with forms never seen before started coming down through the Devildom Pathway.
'Are those the Demonic Beasts of the Devildom?'
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Demonic Beasts.
'They're not that different from the Black Tower's Demonic Beasts.'
Unlike the black dragon that appeared first, the Demonic Beasts coming out now didn't look very strong.
-They're weak ones, as you say.
Wrath nodded calmly.
-The real ones are watching this place from within that gate.
He lowered his eyebrows, saying they would come down when they were confident they could devour this land.
"Were there so many types of Demonic Beasts?"
Burren swallowed hard as he looked at the Demonic Beasts, each with a completely different form.
"Damn lizard bastards! They show up when they're not needed, but why aren't they coming at a time like this!"
Krein stomped his foot, asking why the dragons weren't showing up.
"Don't think about those hypocrites, focus on the fight in front of us!"
Martha shouted at them to snap out of it and took the lead among the swordsmen.
"I'll freeze them all."
Runaan also stepped forward without fear and scattered silver frost.
"Let's go too!"
"No matter how strong these Demonic Beasts are, they can't be stronger than our Palace Master!"
"If we've received that person's training, there's nothing we can't defeat!"
The Light Wind Palace swordsmen moved forward, trusting in their squad leaders and the training they had received so far.
"Owen can't lose to Zieghart! Knights, forward!"
At Third Prince Greer's command, Owen's knights also came forward and formed battle lines. Though fear of the Devildom Pathway arose, they seemed to have regained courage from the momentum of the Zieghart swordsmen.
"Our role is the most important. We need to keep supporting the swordsmen and knights from behind!
Jayna retreated behind Zieghart and Owen, casting support and healing magic on the swordsmen and knights, and firing attack magic at the approaching Demonic Beasts. As expected of elite magicians, the power of their magic was strong, but the Demonic Beasts from the Devildom seemed to have high elemental resistance and pushed forward with their bodies.
"How dare you."
Mark Goetun decisively sliced the necks of the Demonic Beasts rushing towards the magicians.
"It's annoying, so die all at once!"
Trevin performed a sword-drawing technique with his upper body tightly closed. A red Astral Ring bloomed from his sword strike, simultaneously bursting ten bat-like Demonic Beasts descending from the air.
Raon drew two Fire Spirits with his Divine Sword and Demonic Sword. Petals as if blooming from red and blue trees covered the heavens and earth, completely erasing hundreds of Demonic Beasts.
"Disappear."
As Karoon swung his sword wrapped in fighting spirit, the demonized humans hiding in the debris of the Black Tower, waiting for an opportunity, exploded without even being able to move a finger. Despite not having the same constitution as himself, he seemed unaffected by the demonic energy. As expected of a Transcendent.
"At this rate, we can definitely win!"
The allied forces, seemingly encouraged by Raon and Karoon's martial prowess, advanced forward, cutting off the Demonic Beasts' lifelines.
"Don't use too much power."
Chamber looked at the swordsmen with cold eyes.
"What? What do you mean..."
It was when Raon tilted his head, not understanding the meaning of Chamber's words. The corpse of the black dragon that had first been killed by Chamber rose into the air and began to regenerate. Not only was its body regenerating, but the black dragon also seemed to have gained new life as it flashed its pitch-black eyes and let out a roar.
No, it wasn't just the black dragon. The Demonic Beasts cut by his sword and the demonized humans blown away by Karoon's sword also started to revive and rise.
"The Silent Spirit World isn't just about opening the Devildom Pathway, it's a magic that gives special power to the demonized humans and Demonic Beasts of this land. Those who die here will probably keep coming back to life."
Chamber shook her head, saying they would keep reviving, so don't put all their strength into attacks.
"Such an absurd..."
Raon glared at the Black Tower Master, breathing heavily.
"Kuuu..."
However, the Black Tower Master was looking at him with angry eyes despite the success of the Silent Spirit World.
"Why is his reaction like that? The absolute magic that revives Demonic Beasts has succeeded..."
Raon turned his head to Chamber.
"I told you earlier, didn't I? That I pulled out one more pillar."
Chamber grinned as she put a candy in her mouth.
"Originally, that magic was supposed to revive not just those who died now, but all the demonized humans who died in this space. In other words, the Floor Masters you killed while climbing the Black Tower, or Karet should have been resurrected too."
She shook her head while twirling the candy.
"But I cut that part out. Those who died before that magic was activated won't come back. Of course, even the current revivals aren't perfect."
Chamber smiled broadly, seeming pleased with the interference she had achieved even in this urgent situation.
"Chamber! Raon Zieghart!"
The Black Tower Master let out a monstrous cry from the sky, clearly enraged. The darkness of this land seemed to resonate with his emotions.
Instead of doing merely a battle of quantity with Demonic Beasts, he struck down a lightning bolt of demonic energy towards himself. In the moment the sky flashed, a pitch-black thunderbolt was right before Raon's eyes.
"Hmph."
As Chamber flicked the hand holding the candy, the black lightning fell like a black thread onto the bridge of her nose.
"I told you. Let's play with me."
She rose into the air and looked back at them.
"You know what to do without me telling you, right? It'll be tough, but I'm counting on you."
Chamber gave them a bright smile and ascended to the black sky where the Black Tower Master was.
"That damned woman..."
A chilling killing intent could be felt in the Black Tower Master's voice. He seemed to hate Chamber for continuously interfering.
"Let's fight like proper magicians, shall we?"
As she snapped her fingers, both of them disappeared simultaneously. It seemed they had moved to a space where they could fight one-on-one.
"W-What just happened?"
Krein's jaw trembled as if he couldn't understand.
"No need to be flustered. Our job is set."
Raon nodded as he looked at the Devildom Pathway where increasingly stronger Demonic Beasts were pouring out.
"From now on, we use all our strength to close that gate."
Right now, the top priority wasn't the fight between Chamber and the Black Tower Master, but closing that gate.
'How can we close the Devildom Pathway?'
Raon jerked his chin towards Wrath.
-How would I know that?
Wrath frowned as if to say, "What are you talking about?"
'If you, a demon king, don't know...'
-I've been saying this from the beginning, I don't know anything about magic or sorcery! I broke through everything with sheer force!
He proudly jerked his chin, saying he broke through dimensions with force both when leaving and returning to the Devildom.
'Ignorance isn't something to brag about... Ah!'
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the seemingly ever-growing Devildom Pathway.
'That might actually be easier.'
As the Devildom Pathway opened, the wrath he currently possessed was also growing stronger. If he could harness all this power, he might be able to close the gate with force like Wrath did.
-Hmm, it doesn't seem impossible.
Wrath nodded calmly.
-It would be difficult if the gate grows larger, but it's quite possible now. Of course, there will be many interruptions.
As he raised his hand, stronger Demonic Beasts than before started to leap out of the Devildom Pathway. It seemed that higher-grade ones were appearing as the gate grew larger. Huuuuk.
However, it wasn't just Demonic Beasts coming out of the gate now. Demons with a form similar to humans but with horns or wings started to appear among the Demonic Beasts.
-As I said at the beginning, they're watching the situation from inside the gate and coming down when they judge they can devour you.
Wrath narrowed his eyes, saying that the demons coming down now would have considerable skill.
'So we need to stop them quickly.'
Raon nodded, gripping his Divine Sword and Demonic Sword tightly.
'But where did that guy go?'
The demon who had appeared at the end of the middle layer. It was definitely a demon possessing only demonic energy, but it seemed different from these demons somehow.
'No, now's not the time to think about that.'
Raon stepped forward, passing through the Light Wind Palace swordsmen.
"We're closing the Devildom Pathway. Clear a path."
At the low command uttered by the Palace Master, the eyes of the Light Wind Palace swordsmen changed.
"We receive your order!"
Burren, Martha, and Runaan, who had been focusing on defense, simultaneously stepped forward. The Demonic Beasts pushing forward were cut down by Burren's slashing wind, those rushing towards Martha burst into black blood under her heavy sword, and those pouring from the sky froze and shattered as Runaan's frost scattered.
The Light Wind Palace swordsmen maintained their Light Wind Formation and followed, trampling all the Demonic Beasts trying to revive. The swordsmen focused only on the path forward, crushing all the Demonic Beasts blocking their way.
"...That's far enough."
Shadows stirred among the dead Demonic Beasts, and Black King Sigel along with his subordinate demonized humans rose up.
"You cannot advance beyond this point."
He held a greatsword in his right hand and a spear in his left, spreading his black robe.
"Cannot advance?"
The moment Raon smirked, his body had already transcended space. His Divine Sword fell like lightning and his Demonic Sword coldly penetrated, aiming for Black King Sigel's neck and heart. Sigel barely managed to block the Divine Sword and Demonic Sword, but his hands, twisted like octopus legs, trembled as if overwhelmed by the force.
"That's not for someone like you to decide..."
Raon twisted his lips as he pushed Sigel back with force.
"It's for the strong to choose."