“Butterflies?!”

Why would butterflies appear in the northern border?

Such things shouldn't exist in the Winter Region!

Hm?!

No?!

That aura—

Shadow of Silence Power?!

Abyss Demons!!!

Realizing this, Xiumu-Duke's eyes contracted sharply.

Before he and the surrounding Blizzard Knights could understand what was happening—

As the red light and blood-red butterflies appeared, an invisible tide of pressure erupted from Garos Fortress like an overwhelming tsunami and swept across tens of thousands of miles!

The horrifying crimson oppression, like countless ghosts wailing, made Xiumu-Duke tremble uncontrollably.

The vast and boundless storm of Shadow of Silence Power slammed directly into everyone's souls.

Ninety percent of the tens of thousands of soldiers lost consciousness on the spot and collapsed.

Naturally—

The warhorses beneath them suffered the same fate.

Thanks to his powerful strength and resilient will, Xiumu-Duke wasn't knocked unconscious like the majority of his men.

But even so, he could only support himself with his sword, trembling atop the snow.

With disbelief and utter terror, he stared at the crimson radiance erupting from Garos Fortress.

If—

The explosion of the Mana Fission Bomb had shocked him beyond words—

Then now—

The blooming of this blood-red light had transformed Xiumu-Duke into a machine incapable of anything but shock.

This...

This power...

Was this Demon King-class?!

The newly born Demon King?!

No—

No!

'This is definitely not Demon King-class! This is something far more terrifying than Demon King-class!'

The moment that thought emerged, a chill ran down his spine.

It was as though he had been struck by lightning.

His mind went blank.

Then—

Under Xiumu-Duke's stunned gaze—

The Mana Fission Bomb suddenly emitted dazzling purple light!

However—

Compared to the blood-red brilliance that pierced the heavens—

The purple light wasn't even worthy of comparison.

“BOOM!!”

Accompanied by a deafening explosion, the magical inscriptions on the Mana Fission Bomb activated rapidly!

Boundless crimson energy burst through the metal shell and surged outward violently!

The final light capable of destroying the world itself seemed ready to bloom once again.

However—

The instant the crimson energy exploded and prepared to expand—

Xiumu-Duke witnessed something unbelievable.

Countless butterflies glowing with eerie scarlet light rose from Garos Fortress and directly surrounded the scorching energy capable of annihilating the world!

Yet the terrifying temperature, enough to vaporize metal with ease, had absolutely no effect on those blood-red butterflies.

As the butterflies swarmed over it, the energy that had been on the verge of expanding instead began shrinking.

In the end—

Under Xiumu-Duke's dumbfounded gaze—

The crimson energy completely vanished without causing so much as a ripple.

??!!

'W-What... what just happened?!'

Watching the Mana Fission Bomb inexplicably turn into nothing more than a useless chunk of iron, Xiumu-Duke felt no joy over the crisis being resolved.

Only indescribable shock and confusion remained.

Unfortunately—

He had no time to ponder.

Because in the next moment—

Under the horrified eyes of Xiumu-Duke and the few others who remained conscious—

Those blood butterflies hovering over Garos Fortress—

After devouring the Mana Fission Bomb—

Instantly transformed into scarlet meteors and shot southward!

?!

'Not good?!'

That monster sensed our presence!!

Though the overwhelming pressure from before had vanished from the butterflies, Xiumu-Duke didn't dare relax for even a moment.

The trembling in his heart reached unprecedented levels.

Forcing himself upright, he gripped his sword tightly and assumed a battle stance.

He knew very well—

With his Sword Saint-level strength, there was no way he could fight those blood butterflies.

But—

He couldn't just wait to die!

Even if he died, he had to struggle!

Deep crimson fire-attribute sword aura wrapped around his blade.

Holding his breath, Xiumu-Duke prepared for the final battle of his life.

The remaining conscious soldiers likewise took up defensive stances.

They watched the approaching blood butterflies with trembling bodies.

However—

The awkward thing was—

Just as everyone had steeled themselves for a desperate struggle—

The butterfly swarm flew right over their heads.

Xiumu-Duke: ??!!

The soldiers: ??!!

'Uh... w-what is going on?'

Watching the butterflies disappear into the distance, the old Marquis once again froze in place after experiencing the feeling of surviving a catastrophe.

He slowly raised his head and stared blankly toward the direction the butterflies were heading.

W-Why?

They're not attacking us?!

And—

Wait?!

That direction is?!

...

—

Meanwhile—

On the Nivelle Mountain Range near Wind Facing City—

??!!

Hm?

What's going on?

Staring at the image-transmitting magic crystal in his hand, Third Prince Bernard frowned.

His displeasure immediately made the atmosphere around him extremely oppressive.

Seeing this, Grand Mage Zeke—whose body had become weak after launching the second Mana Fission Bomb—quickly drank five mana potions and hurried over.

“Your Highness the Third Prince, did the attack proceed smoothly?”

“Smoothly?! How the hell should I know whether it was smooth or not?!” 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Hearing Zeke's question, Bernard turned and roared in fury, leaving the old mage stunned.

Faced with such rudeness, even Zeke couldn't help but feel a trace of anger.

'If it weren't for His Majesty's sake, I'd never serve an idiot like you!'

Of course—

The dignity of the royal family couldn't be violated.

Though displeased inside, Zeke maintained a respectful appearance.

“May I ask why Your Highness says so?”

“You still have the nerve to ask?!”

Bernard shot him a contemptuous glare and scolded him mercilessly in front of all the mages.

“What kind of idiots are your subordinates?! I was just about to ask them something and they suddenly lost contact! I can't reach them no matter what! What kind of nonsense is this?! One losing contact is one thing, but how did all three griffon scouts disappear?! Or is your image transmission system defective?!”

“Ah? T-They lost contact?”

Hearing this, Zeke frowned.

“That shouldn't be possible.”

Confusion filled his mind.

Three scouts.

Three different angles.

All flying high above, far from the Abyss Demons.

Outside the blast radius of the Mana Fission Bomb.

Nothing should've happened to them.

Even if something had gone wrong, all three shouldn't have disappeared simultaneously.

Something—

Was wrong.

And just as Zeke was pondering—

His brows suddenly tightened.

?!!

Without warning, he grabbed Bernard's arm and yanked him away from beneath the parasol.

“Hm?!”

Naturally, such a rude action infuriated Bernard.

Flames of anger erupted from his pale blue eyes.

“Y-You old fool, you want— Hm??”

Before he could finish shouting—

Several unknown black objects suddenly fell from the sky, accompanied by sticky, foul-smelling liquid.

They smashed heavily into the spot where Bernard had been standing.

?!

“W-What is that?!”

And the moment they saw those black objects—

Whether Bernard or the surrounding mages—

All shuddered.

Even the battle-hardened Grand Mage Zeke frowned deeply.

Because—

Those black objects before them—

Were none other than the three missing scouts and their black griffons.

Only—

Now—

Their bodies had been torn apart into countless pieces.

Scattered chunks of flesh covered the ground.

And the foul-smelling liquid from before—

Was their blood.

Furthermore—

Judging by the frozen expression on one of the severed heads—

They had clearly encountered something utterly terrifying before dying.

“W-What... what happened?!”

Looking at the pile of corpses, Bernard stumbled backward in horror.

And then—

He suddenly realized something.

The bright sunlight had disappeared.

The sky—

Had gone dark...