Noah Diaz raised his sword high. His pitch-black eyes gleamed with madness. Noah’s sword emitted a chilling sound as it was filled with dark malice.

When he swung his sword, the black sword energy drew a large arc and flew towards Leopold.

‘Damn! What immense power!’

Just before Noah’s sword energy reached him, Leopold stepped back and swung his sword, which was covered in red mana.

Boom-!

The black magic and the red mana clashed fiercely. The air moved violently, causing a gust of wind.

Whoosh-!

The malice pierced through Leopold’s sword energy.

The black sword energy, shrouded in malice, flew sharply towards him.

‘This time, I’m really going to get hit!’

Leopold was in danger of being hit directly without a chance to dodge. Seeing the approaching magic, he tightly closed his eyes and raised his sword to shield his face.

But then.

Nothing happened. He should have felt the pain of his entire body being torn apart, but he was completely unscathed.

Leopold opened his eyes in surprise.

“……!”

Hyle was standing against Noah Diaz’s magic. His arm was trembling violently.

No matter how excellent Hyle’s mana control was, his aging body could no longer fully support his abilities.

“Hyle!”

“What are you doing? Strike now, Emperor of Atlan!”

At Hyle’s shout, Leopold focused. He drew out mana from his mana core as thin as a single thread and layered it onto his sword.

If he failed to create overlapping sword energy this time, they might not get another chance.

Cold sweat drenched Leopold’s forehead and back.

Meanwhile, Ariel distracted Noah Diaz by attacking him, causing Noah to lose focus on Hyle’s sword, buying Leopold time to create the overlapping sword energy.

‘Now I just need to compress it.’

The volume of the sword energy tightly wrapped around his sword slowly decreased.

“Ariel! Do you need to die by my hand to come to your senses?”

Noah shouted at Ariel, who was persistently attacking him.

“Fine. Leave Master and Leopold alone! Kill me, instead. Attack me!”

“I will grant your wish.”

Noah Diaz withdrew his sword from Hyle and strode towards Ariel. As Noah’s sword disappeared, Hyle’s arm trembled violently, and he dropped his sword.

‘If this power struggle had lasted any longer, I might have succumbed.’

Ariel, what are you seeing so far ahead?

Hyle planted his sword in the ground, breathing heavily, and looked at Ariel. At that moment, crimson flames erupted from Noah’s hand and shot towards Ariel.

But Ariel easily dodged it and protected herself with a mana shield.

Boom-!

The fireball that Ariel dodged shattered the ground of the inner courtyard. Seeing this, Hyle sighed in relief.

But Leopold remained focused on compressing the sword energy.

His sword was becoming a blade of mana, harder than steel and stronger than diamond.

Golden mana enveloped Ariel’s body.

‘Can’t I surround Master and Leopold with this as well?’

As she calmed her mind, her thoughts became more flexible.

Ariel channeled mana from her mana core and released it outside her body, enveloping Hyle and Leopold.

Even if the mana shield was broken by that bastard’s attack, it could be quickly restored. There was no need to be impatient.

“Ariel…!”

Black magic seeped out of Noah Diaz’s skin, who was furious to the point of madness.

If Leopold hadn’t hurt his pride. No, if Ariel had allowed even a small margin, things wouldn’t have come to this.

Malice surged. Noah swung his sword at Ariel.

The black magic cut through the air and flew towards Ariel. She lightly moved her feet using mana to dodge the attack and advanced into the dark sky where the sun had already disappeared.

Her golden hair, tied high, fluttered in the wind blowing in the sky.

Noah Diaz gritted his teeth as he watched Ariel soar high into the sky.

‘How dare you, how dare you!’

He didn’t realize the numerical disadvantage would be such a huge obstacle.

In that case, he had no choice but to take the risk.

Even if his body and soul disappeared, and his very existence was erased from this world.

“I will separate you two forever.”

Muttering while looking at Ariel who had risen into the sky, madness filled Noah’s pupils.

He attempted to absorb the last remaining power from the feather in his jacket pocket. However, he was risking the complete annihilation of his soul and body.

Silence fell over the castle. The quiet space was enveloped in black energy.

All the evil and darkness of this world gathered around Noah Diaz, surrounding his body.

“Aaaaah-!”

He groaned, scratching his throat as he was engulfed in darkness.

Leopold, who had completed the overlapping sword energy, pointed his sword at him. Hyle, who had eventually collapsed to the ground, looked at him.

Ariel, watching from the sky, rubbed her eyes with her hand that wasn’t holding the sword. She couldn’t believe the sight before her.

Their faces were filled with fear and anxiety in the ominous atmosphere.

“What are you waiting for! Quickly, strike that wicked man with the overlapping sword energy!”

At Hyle’s shout, Leopold swung his sword, which was surging with red mana. The overlapping sword energy cut through the night air. Towards Noah, shrouded in black smoke.

Leopold believed he could surely stop his actions.

Whoosh-!

The overlapping sword energy created by Leopold should have collided with Noah Diaz, creating a bursting sound. The heated air should have pushed them back.

It should have, but the overlapping sword energy was absorbed into the darkness.

‘What is happening?’

The eyes of the three shook violently. They all fell into confusion.

***

Liese Willington and Evan Clark watched Noah Diaz engulfed in a dark aura from within the protective barrier created by the mages.

Liese, dressed in white priestly robes, moved as if she would step out of the barrier without hesitation.

“I must go out now.”

There’s no telling when he might regain his form. If she poured holy power into him right now to purify him, they might end this battle without wasting unnecessary strength.

Thud-!

But Evan grabbed her arm as if to snatch it.

“Let me go. It’s not too late yet. We must finish this before something big happens.”

Liese tried to pull her arm away, but Evan did not let go. Worried that he might grip her arm too tightly, he deliberately held her slender arm loosely.

Evan shook his head firmly.

“Her Majesty placed us here for a reason, Liese.”

“Yes, but just standing by and watching like this is unbearable for me!”

Holy power surged within Liese. It was the power supplied by Lumiere when she wanted to protect someone.

Yet, despite being filled with holy power, she couldn’t use it.

She was frustrated.

“Before you can even use your holy power, you might be killed by Noah Diaz’s hand.”

Evan pointed outside the barrier. At that moment, Leopold launched overlapping sword energy, but the darkness surrounding Noah swallowed Leopold’s attack.

Liese’s blue eyes trembled as she turned her gaze in the direction Evan was pointing.

“What did I just see……. Even His Majesty the Emperor’s attack was rendered powerless.”

She covered her mouth in shock.

What on earth is that power?

Stronger darkness enveloped Noah Diaz.

A low, serene voice echoed in Liese Willington’s mind.

[The power of the Demon King. The pure essence of evil.]

Liese instinctively realized that the voice belonged to Lumiere.

“This is…… the power of the Demon King, the pure essence of evil. Since it’s a divine power, it can’t be purified even with holy power…….”

“What do you mean by that?”

Though frightened, Liese answered Evan’s question calmly.

“I read about it in a book once. About the sealed power of the Demon King…….”

It wasn’t recorded when or why the Demon King was sealed, but it was clear that he was indeed sealed.

Unlike the dark magic of the dark mages who followed him, the Demon King’s magic was within the realm of divinity, so even Lumiere couldn’t extinguish his power.

And they had to wait for the immense power to consume the human flesh and self-destruct.

Liese explained to Evan exactly what was written in the book.

“We must endure this tedious and extremely dangerous fight, no matter how long it takes…….”

They had to withstand a situation where they couldn’t eat or sleep. For an indefinite period.

Evan silently held Liese’s trembling hand.