The true signal that the full-scale battle had begun came not from the ground, but from the skies. The mid-level and above demons clashed first with the monstrous bird legion, each vying for control of the air to gain the upper hand.
Strictly speaking, the monstrous birds had superior physical abilities compared to the demons. But the demons outnumbered them by at least two to one—and, more importantly, possessed a crucial advantage the birds lacked.
Magic. In other words, mid-level demons and above could wield spells. Considering that Belphegor, trapped in the ruined laboratory, was a mid-level demon at the time, one could easily imagine the overwhelming power this brought to the battlefield.
So rather than engaging in brute force, the demons formed ranks and maintained distance, opting to attack with magic. Given the rapidly shifting situation, it was a wise strategy.
The demons quickly retreated to the rear, formed their lines, and reached out with their hands. At that moment, as dark energy pulsed and writhed, thousands of pitch-black spear-like beams shot forth like a relentless hailstorm toward the monstrous birds. If they allowed this attack to land, the bird legion would be torn apart like a beehive. It was a foregone conclusion.
Then—
“Kirurur…?”
The demons, preparing their next attack without pause, suddenly furrowed their brows. Even the monstrous birds, about to dodge, hesitated for a moment. The magic that seemed ready to devour their foes abruptly froze midair. No matter how fiercely they swung their arms, the beams wouldn’t move, as if glued firmly in place.
The cause of this sudden phenomenon wasn’t in the air, but on the ground. Among the countless souls of heroes, a blonde woman looked up at the sky with a bright smile. She was the very soul who had kissed Kim Suhyun in the dragon’s slumbering mountain and vanished, inciting Ansol’s wrath.
With a cheerful grin, she slowly rotated her left hand counterclockwise—and something miraculous happened. The frozen beams began to retreat, rewinding as if on a tape, until not a single one remained, all sucked back into nothingness.
Witnessing the now-clear sky, chaos erupted in the air. To forcibly cancel the enemy’s magic? Such a power had never been seen or heard of before. No one knew how long the cancelation would last, but at that moment, magic was rendered useless—a thunderclap of terrible news.
For the monstrous birds, however, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Their leader instinctively realized they had an ally providing cover and abandoned evasive maneuvers to charge headlong.
With bodies over eight meters long, their massive frames slammed into the demons with all their might. It was no surprise that the demons, unable to withstand the impact, were flung aside. One unlucky demon caught in a gaping beak was mercilessly crushed, bones shattering with a sickening crunch as blood exploded forth.
From that tangled moment when the two species collided, the sky descended into utter chaos. And the demons had to worry not only about the monstrous birds but also the souls attacking from the ground. Having once faced dragons countless times, the legendary heroes were no strangers to combined air-and-ground combat.
As a result, the demon faction’s top forces were tightly bound by the alliance of monstrous birds and soul legions. Satan’s plan to swiftly eliminate the birds had been completely derailed.
But that wasn’t the only thing going wrong.
Whoooosh!
Golden Lion Lord, calmly surveying the battlefield, suddenly glanced sideways at the sound of roaring flames. His expression hardened.
“F-fire tornadoes!”
Someone shouted in shock. And indeed, dozens—no, hundreds—of fiery tornadoes, each over two meters wide, spun fiercely upward in the distance to the right.
In the next moment, the fire whirlwinds accelerated, sliding closer one after another. The sight of blazing embers scattering and scorching everything in their path was enough to strike fear even into the bravest.
The Northern Continent’s forces hastily raised their shields, but it was a futile gesture. The firestorm wasn’t heading toward the Northern Continent at all—it was veering sharply elsewhere.
Tracing long arcs, the fiery vortexes swept around and suddenly crashed down like a tidal wave on the Western and Southern Continent forces.
“What… what is this? Why all of a sudden—!”
“Ugh, aaaaaah!”
The sudden inferno was more than enough to send the already confused Western and Southern Continent users into a panic. They never dreamed the fairies they’d considered allies would turn on them.
Still, as the fiery tsunami engulfed their ranks, writhing and dancing flames turned their position into a hellish nightmare. For those watching, it was a spectacular and exhilarating sight.
But that wasn’t all.
Even before the fire tornadoes had died down, the fairies began charging in from the right, shouting a mighty battle cry. Their numbers started at around two thousand but quickly swelled exponentially to four thousand, eight thousand, even over ten thousand.
Elementals of light, darkness, fire, water, wind, lightning, earth—each variety surged like waves, striking the flanks. The fairies followed, unleashing a rain of arrows behind their elemental vanguard.
“Hah…!”
Watching the enemy lines crumble like dominoes, Golden Lion Lord couldn’t help but exclaim. Though he had spoken boldly, he was a bit tense—until the tide of battle suddenly shifted. His face flushed red from the blazing heat, and then he burst into a hearty laugh.
Having survived countless hellish battles in his lifetime, Golden Lion Lord knew war well. He didn’t fully understand what was happening, but he knew this was the perfect moment to strike the enemy.
With such a golden opportunity laid out, how could he refuse? Without hesitation, he charged forward, gripping his long spear tightly and shouting,
“What are you waiting for? Let’s go, you bastards!”
And his prediction proved spot on. Already disoriented by the fairy ambush, the enemy was thrown into further chaos as the Northern Continent forces broke formation and attacked. Satan’s carefully maintained encirclement shattered completely.
No—up in the air, the demons were barely holding on; the fairies struck from the side; and from the front, the Northern Continent users pressed in. The encirclement had not only collapsed—it had reversed, leaving the demons surrounded instead.
“Ugh…!”
Erwin watched the rapidly changing battle with wide, glaring eyes. He barely kept his composure, but that was all. His confidence was gone. His trembling fists betrayed the turmoil inside.
Meanwhile, countless demons with teeth marks were falling from the sky. If the Western and Southern Continents were left unchecked, their collapse was inevitable. The demon alliance was repeating the same mistakes the Northern Continent had made in the last war.
“How… how…?”
Biting his lips in mounting anxiety, Erwin struggled to think of a strategy. Earlier, at least, there had been room to adjust.
“Ugh…!”
He needed to come up with a plan, to issue orders—but no matter how hard he thought, no solution to this crisis came to mind.
“Ughhh…!”
Accepting that truth, a crushing sense of helplessness swept over him, as if his entire body was about to collapse. His chest tightened unbearably, as if it were being torn apart.
“Thunder God…!”
Finally, Erwin clutched his throbbing head in both hands.
At that moment—
“All units, left wing advance!”
Watching the unfolding events, Kim Yuhyun finally gave the order to advance. The battle was going far better than expected, but his expression remained grim. Because victory wasn’t the top priority in this war.
Of course, the plan was to annihilate every last demon, but that was only a secondary goal. For Kim Yuhyun personally, the highest priority was rescuing Kim Suhyun alive. Even if they won the war, if his younger brother died, it would all be meaningless.
That’s why Kim Yuhyun had aimed for a swift, decisive battle from the start. There was no guarantee the enemy would wait patiently while he methodically cleared the field and rescued his brother. The demons could kill Kim Suhyun at any moment if they wished.
In the end, there was only one option left. The situation was set. Success or failure hinged on breaking through the remaining enemy forces and reaching the platform as quickly as possible.
‘…Or so they think.’
But surprisingly, Kim Yuhyun already anticipated failure. Not for any particular reason, but because it was his habit to always plan for the worst-case scenario.
What struck him as unusual was how few enemies there actually were. It was obvious who was responsible.
On the other hand, Kim Suhyun himself was probably grinding his teeth right now. If the rescue succeeded and the Sword Lord returned to the battlefield, the enemy would know better than anyone what would come next.
No matter how dire the situation, it was hard to imagine the enemy would simply open the path to the platform without a fight.
In other words, if this plan succeeds as is, that’s great. But they needed a backup for the moment things went south. And from now on, the preparations for that would begin.
“Vivian La Classidus!”
With that thought, Kim Yuhyun shouted with all his might.
“Hmm!”
A clear voice, tinged with a hint of arrogance, answered back.
Moments later, Vivian suddenly surged ahead, then, somewhat awkwardly, broke into a run.
No matter how she ran, watching her figure grow smaller in the distance, Kim Yuhyun felt a pang of guilt. He had explained everything thoroughly beforehand and gotten her consent, but even so, the task he’d entrusted to her felt harsh—he couldn’t deny it.
It was then.