The A Zone of Masan sprawled like a spiderweb with numerous passages.
All paths led to the one and only undeveloped S-Class zone,
but Kyleen was guarding just one spot.
According to the information provided by Chancellor Alvesto, Drak was said to be hiding here, but the cave was merely silent.
“There’s not even a rat in sight, let alone Drak.”
Deputy Roman spoke in a low voice.
Even Kyleen’s sharp eyes detected nothing.
At that moment, a faint vibration from another passage brushed against Kyleen’s skin.
She swept back her black hair and said,
“…It’s an engagement.”
“What?”
“I need to go.”
When Kyleen moved first, Roman and the First Knight Order awkwardly followed her.
As they approached the entrance to another passage,
Below, the commander of the Third Knight Order, blocked their path.
“The Chancellor ordered us to guard this place until the designated time. Where are you going?”
“There’s a battle happening in another passage. It’s where the Second Knight Commander, Burman, was ambushed.”
“And how do you know that?”
“If I’m wrong, you can have my head.”
Despite Kyleen’s clear confidence, Below shook his head and did not step aside.
“You cannot pass.”
“…What do you mean?”
“The Chancellor’s orders regarding Masan are also His Majesty’s orders. Kyleen, are you defying the Emperor’s command?”
Below knew that Kyleen could not disobey the Emperor, Ed’s, words.
Kyleen stared coldly at Below.
A faint blue light flickered in her eyes.
“You’re bad at lying.”
“What?”
“You’re not thinking of guarding this place. You’re trying to keep me here. Why is that?”
Below’s expression wavered, and Kyleen’s suspicion turned to certainty.
“Is that also the Chancellor’s order?”
It was true that Kyleen had once been swayed by Alvesto’s promise in the imperial library to make her like Carlos.
However, she never fully trusted Alvesto, whose motives were impossible to read.
Below, flustered, shook his head as if trying to regain composure.
“I-I told you, this is the Emperor’s ord—”
There was a way to cut Below down and break through, but Kyleen was not that reckless.
She shouted at Deputy Roman.
“Roman! Open the way, but don’t kill them!”
At the same time as the order, Kyleen began running towards the passage where she had felt the vibrations.
Below shouted in panic to the knights.
“Stop her!!”
Even amidst the chaos, Roman knew exactly what needed to be done.
Following the orders of her true master, Kyleen, she blocked Below and the knights.
With the sound of clashing blades ringing behind her, Kyleen ran and ran.
Finally, as she approached the source of the vibration—
“…!”
She faced a white fog wall that concealed the inside.
The vibrations were undoubtedly coming from within the wall.
But both sound and sight were completely blocked.
Above all, she felt an immense, indescribable magical force emanating from within.
Kyleen’s instincts screamed. She must not enter.
Standing before the fog wall, Kyleen thought of Carlos and Kan simultaneously.
If she were ever to face a wall hiding the truth, as she did now, what choice would she make?
“….”
Gripping her sword, she hurled herself into the fog wall without hesitation.
Drak’s ferocious laughter engulfed the entire Masan.
With every swing of his fist, like a massive flail, the bodies of demon kings burst like balloons.
With just a single step, ordinary monster soldiers were crushed like ants under an elephant’s foot.
Having lost Ga’al, the commander of the alliance, and facing overwhelming power, the demon kings and monsters scattered in terror.
However, all exits were blocked by fog walls sealed with Aishi’s authority.
“Ahh, how delightful. The screams sound like a symphony! Tormenting the weak is so much fun!”
One cornered demon king knelt at Drak’s feet, trembling and bowing his head.
“P-Please forgive me! Spare me! Please!”
Drak stared at his face carefully and grinned.
“You… you’re that guy.”
“Y-Yes…?”
“Don’t pretend. You were the one who opposed my temporary alliance proposal at the demon king meeting.”
“…!”
The lesser demon king’s face twisted as if it were melting. He never imagined Drak would remember.
“Surprised? I hold grudges, you see. Hahaha.”
Raising his massive foot like a guillotine, Drak spoke.
“I told you back then, didn’t I? A swarm of ants can never kill a lion.”
Splat!
With a single stomp, the demon king was brutally crushed.
Drak wiped his bloodied foot carelessly on the ground and looked around.
In less than an hour, countless corpses had piled up inside Masan.
All of them were toys he had played with.
But two still remained.
To be precise, he had left them alive on purpose.
“I’m tired of the small fries. Now, it’s time for the main course.”
Drak smacked his lips with a twisted grin.
What caught his bloodshot eyes was a reaper girl cloaked in robes and a snow-white fox glowing even within the darkness of Masan.
Both of them, with their magic and other abilities sealed, were nothing more than Drak’s playthings.
Drak glanced down at the two, blocked by the fog wall, and tilted his head.
“Hmm, so both of you are those rude little monster brats who see Demon Kings as nothing but fools.”
Drak’s gaze first landed on Lauro.
“I don’t care about the fox, but Lauro, you… you’re unforgivable. You used Evil Eye on the airship to send me plunging into the abyss.”
“W-Wait—”
Before Lauro could finish her sentence, Drak swung his foot.
His target was her leg.
Crunch!
“Ugh!?”
Lauro collapsed to the ground, swallowing her pained groan.
Beside her, Roshi covered her mouth, barely stifling a scream.
Her pure white ears and tail trembled visibly, unable to hide her fear.
Drak’s gaze shifted to Roshi.
“Snow Fox, do I need to make you kneel myself?”
“…!”
Roshi, gripped by terror, slowly lifted her gaze from Drak’s feet upward.
His cold, piercing stare felt like it was boring straight through her, and her body instinctively cowered.
Her snow-white ears drooped, and her tail quivered briefly before touching the ground.
Clutching her chest with trembling hands, she bit her lip and finally knelt.
She tried to look up at Drak, but his oppressive presence made it impossible for her to meet his gaze, and her head hung low.
Drak smiled in satisfaction as he looked down at her.
“This feels incredible. Today, this Demon King will personally teach you noble brats the manners that monsters like you should have learned. Hahaha.”
Drak’s enormous shadow spread across the dark floor, swallowing Lauro’s entire body.
“First, Lauro, let me play with you.”
At that moment, a presence stirred beyond the fog wall behind Drak.
Though Aishi’s seal had perfectly blocked any exits, entry had been intentionally allowed.
After all, Drak was confident that no one could defeat him in this space, even with their magic and strength sealed.
Drak stopped his hand, which was reaching for Lauro, and slowly turned around.
Lauro, Roshi, and even Aishi, who was watching from afar, all turned their gazes to the same spot.
From the passage, someone carefully stepped into view.
“…Huh?”
It was the adorable Rupia.
But Drak’s expression froze like stone the moment he saw her.
He immediately understood what this meant.
“W-Wait. If that brat is here…”
It meant that Death Knight Kan was also nearby.
This was a space where the magic and power of all beings, except for Drak, were sealed.
But the trauma from the Sky Island was etched deep into Drak’s mind, and he unconsciously held his breath.
Unlike Drak, Lauro and Roshi looked at Rupia with eyes filled with hope, eagerly staring behind her.
If Kan was there, they believed he might find a way out of this impossible situation.
Even if they couldn’t use their strength in this place.
‘Apologies can come later. As long as we survive that monster…!’
Lauro and Roshi had nearly identical thoughts at that moment.
And just as they had hoped, a knight stepped out from behind Rupia to protect her.
“…Huh?”
But the knight was not Kan—it was Rain.
Lauro buried her face in despair, and Roshi continued to stare at them as if she were in a dream.
Following Rain, a shadowy black cat merchant entered the scene, but the situation didn’t improve.
Drak glanced at Rupia, Rain, and the black cat one by one.
When he realized Kan wasn’t there, he grinned wickedly.
“Hahaha, so the weakling Demon King has walked straight to his death? Where did you leave that skeleton behind?”