“BOOOOOM!!!”

Accompanied by the relentless eruption of black Shadow of Silence Power, a massive crack was violently blasted into the azure city-defense barrier!

Dozens of ferocious Abyss Demons roared as they surged through the breach.

They smashed through the walls and carried that nauseating black aura straight into Garos Fortress!

The moment the Abyss Demons entered the fortress—

Hundreds of warriors clad in gray armor immediately mobilized their battle aura.

Holding giant shields and long spears, they charged toward the Abyss Demons, many times their own size.

At the same time, the cannons that had long been prepared within the fortress unleashed their fury, providing cover for the defending soldiers as they launched their assault.

“Charge! Fight these monsters to the death! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”

Accompanied by the soldiers' desperate roars and blooming firelight—

The area around the breach instantly transformed into a brutally contested battlefield.

Spears continuously pierced into Abyss Demon flesh.

Heavy artillery and arrows rained down without pause, inflicting devastating injuries.

Under the defenders' all-out offensive, one savage Abyss Demon after another collapsed with mournful screams.

However—

While more than twenty Abyss Demons fell—

Nearly sixty soldiers were struck by claws and fangs during the fighting.

Their bodies were smashed apart and torn into bloody chunks.

Another hundred or so were contaminated by the black aura and corrosive breath released by the Abyss Demons.

Under countless horrified gazes—

They melted into revolting pools of blood.

For a time, the air around the breach became saturated with the stench of blood and the nauseating odor of decay.

The corpses of Abyss Demons and the mangled remains of human soldiers piled up like mountains.

Blood flowed like rivers.

Combined with the roars of monsters and the screams of dying humans, the battlefield resembled a nightmarish painting from the depths of hell itself.

Looking upon this scene of human purgatory, Kosov-Zerlong, commander of the Eighth Legion, clenched his teeth.

His fists tightened so hard that his nails pierced into flesh.

These soldiers—

Were his comrades.

People he had lived and fought alongside day after day.

Watching them die one after another filled Kosov with unbearable pain.

Anger and hatred completely consumed his face.

Yet despite that, he forced himself to calm down through repeated deep breaths.

After sacrificing twelve soldiers to barely bring down a single sixth-tier Abyss Demon, the commander hurriedly turned toward the nearby mage corps.

“Now! The other Abyss Demons are still being blocked outside the barrier! Repair the breach immediately!!!”

The next moment—

The mages mobilized all of their remaining mana.

As waves of blue magical light spread outward, the enormous crack in the barrier gradually began closing.

Thus, the battle in that particular sector finally came to an end.

Yet Kosov felt no relief whatsoever.

Because just as the breach finished repairing—

A messenger arrived beside him.

“A {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} massive breach has appeared along Defensive Wall Sector Twenty-Three! Reinforcements are urgently requested!”

After delivering the report—

The messenger collapsed unconscious from blood loss.

Seeing this, Kosov bit through his own lip.

“Damn it...”

After cursing, he immediately turned toward his subordinates.

“Quick! Get a medic!”

—

Although Garos Fortress had barely managed to withstand the first large-scale assault of the Abyss Demon horde through the protection of the city-defense barrier—

Maintaining a barrier of such enormous scale required tremendous amounts of mana and precious magic source crystals.

As time passed—

And as the Abyss Demon attacks intensified—

Both the mana reserves of the mage corps and the stockpile of magic crystals were being consumed at an alarming rate.

Gradually—

The barrier's defensive capability began to decline.

Under the Abyss Demons' frenzied bombardment, more and more cracks appeared throughout the city-defense formation.

Hundreds.

Then thousands.

Abyss Demons roared as they poured into Garos Fortress and engaged the defenders in savage close-quarters combat.

The battlefield where Kosov fought was merely one among dozens of battlefields scattered across the fortress.

Although countless mages continuously drank mana potions to replenish their exhausted reserves and sustain the barrier—

Recovery simply could not keep pace with consumption.

The defenses of Garos Fortress stood on the verge of total collapse.

Realizing this—

The female adjutant, Tevalin, who was directing the battle from atop the wall, could not help frowning deeply as she stared at the terrifying Abyss Demon horde ahead.

If reinforcements from Wind Facing City—

Or the support promised by the Asumos Church—

Did not arrive soon...

The entire fortress would likely fall.

It would become a living hell.

Everyone would become food for the Abyss Demons.

Not even their corpses would remain intact.

Just imagining that future sent chills down her spine.

Although she maintained an appearance of composure before her subordinates, her heart was already drowning in fear.

Dear heavens...

‘Please save us...’

Feeling the bloodthirsty gazes of the Abyss Demons below the walls—

Feeling the suffocating tide of Shadow of Silence Power—

Tevalin helplessly prayed in her heart.

Would heaven choose to help those in need?

Hard to say.

But reality often proved one thing.

Sometimes—

Heaven preferred adding fuel to the fire.

As Tevalin prayed—

A disturbance in the distance suddenly caught her attention.

Unable to stop herself, she raised her telescope and looked toward the rear of the Abyss Demon horde.

That...

What's that?

Snow?

A blizzard?

Why is there suddenly a blizzard—

Huh?!

N-No...

No...

That's... THAT'S—

The instant she clearly saw the gigantic white figure standing at the center of the blizzard—

Tevalin's pupils contracted violently.

Every hair on her body stood upright.

An overwhelming chill instantly engulfed her entire being.

A level of terror unlike anything she had ever experienced spread through her heart like a plague.

It felt as though invisible black claws had seized her consciousness and dragged it into a bottomless abyss.

The tiny flame of hope she had desperately maintained until now—

Was extinguished completely.

Never to reignite.

At this moment, even her soul trembled uncontrollably.

Under the confused gazes of nearby soldiers—

Her body lost all strength.

She dropped to her knees.

‘T-That's... a D-Demon... D-Demon King Class...’

Snow Devourer!

A Demon King-class Abyss Demon?!

Why?!

Why?!

WHY WOULD SOMETHING LIKE THAT APPEAR HERE?!

Tevalin's mind nearly descended into hysteria.

The thought of defending the fortress and waiting for reinforcements vanished instantly.

Only one thought remained.

Retreat.

How could Garos Fortress possibly stop an eighth-tier Demon King-class Abyss Demon when it didn't even possess a single seventh-tier Saint Rank expert?!

Once Snow Devourer arrived—

Everyone would die.

There was no possibility of resistance.

‘We have to retreat!!’

After reaching that conclusion, Tevalin abruptly rose to her feet and looked toward the bewildered soldiers behind her.

“Quick! Everyone! Retreat immediat—?!”

Damn it!

Too late!!

However—

Before Tevalin could finish speaking—

The colossal wolf shrouded within the distant blizzard suddenly opened its mouth, revealing rows of razor-sharp fangs.

In an instant—

Endless crimson Shadow of Silence Power gathered within it.

Compressed.

Condensed.

The terrifying fluctuations distorted the surrounding space itself.

The next moment—

The crimson Shadow of Silence Power compressed inside the giant wolf's mouth was unleashed.

Instantly—

The earth split apart.

The heavens changed color.

A world-destroying crimson beam erupted forth like a bloodthirsty beast breaking free from its chains, carrying enough force to devour all existence as it roared toward Garos Fortress.

Under the horrified gazes of Tevalin and countless soldiers—

The crimson beam rapidly expanded within their eyes.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!”

Accompanied by a heaven-shaking explosion and a catastrophic eruption of Shadow of Silence Power—

The crimson beam slammed directly into the azure barrier surrounding Garos Fortress.

In an instant—

The magical barrier that had resisted the Abyss Demon horde for so long was obliterated with overwhelming force.

Shattered completely.

The unstoppable crimson beam continued raging forward.

Including Tevalin—

Tens of thousands of people were erased before they could even scream.

Their bodies vanished into ash.

One-third of the fortress ceased to exist beneath Snow Devourer's Annihilation Cannon.

Even two distant mountains were flattened into the ground by the attack.