BOOM!
Dust flew everywhere, and snow swirled through the air.
Beneath the shattered sky, tiny ice crystals still drifted about.
But apart from the howling wind and the sound of rocks crashing together, everything was silent.
The light had faded, leaving only tiny specks of light slowly disappearing into the air.
The star-filled sky appeared once more, and the dark clouds that had once covered it had been completely scattered.
A huge red hole had appeared in the demon's body as it stood before the banquet hall.
Through that hole, the damaged golden banquet hall behind it could even be seen.
"Cough... cough..."
The nobles slowly got to their feet through the dust, brushing it off their clothes.
When they looked down, they were shocked to find themselves covered in dirt and black footprints.
The nobles flew into a rage and immediately began blaming each other.
"Which bastard kicked me twice?"
"My clothes were personally made by the best designer in the royal capital! Can you even afford to pay for them?"
"Damn it! Damn it! Show yourself if you've got the guts!"
But when they all lowered their heads, they noticed several scattered Geo coins on the ground.
Whoosh!
'Wait!'
Cold sweat instantly covered their foreheads, and their bodies froze.
They all remembered.
For some reason, they had fought each other over just a few gold coins for what felt like a long time.
'Those people just now... were them?'
Realizing how badly they had embarrassed themselves in front of everyone at the banquet, all of the nobles shut their mouths.
None of them dared say another word.
Not far away, the First Prince looked at the demon, still surrounded by snow and dust, and coughed softly.
Was it over?
The nobles seemed to have returned to normal, and everything looked as if it had settled down.
But the next moment, his eyes suddenly widened.
Feeling the thick evil intent slowly wrapping around his body, Albany trembled slightly.
He could clearly feel it.
It wasn't over...
The nobles also raised their heads one after another, looking toward the place where the smoke was slowly clearing.
Under their shocked and frightened gazes, the Greed Demon gradually came back into view.
Its wrinkled body, black like ink, slowly appeared.
The huge hole that had pierced through its body began healing within seconds as black ink rose from the whirlpool below.
It magically filled the wound.
Standing on top of the demon's head, the Second Prince burst into loud laughter.
Arrogant as ever, he now seemed to see everyone before him as beneath notice.
"Count Viktor, it seems your magic isn't all that powerful after all."
The Second Prince lowered his head, madness shining in his eyes as he looked down at Viktor with contempt.
"Did you really think it was still the same demon you defeated before?"
Viktor stood there expressionlessly with both hands in his pockets, quietly waiting for the Second Prince to explain.
He knew that at a time like this, the other party would never be able to resist explaining everything.
Sure enough.
In front of everyone, Owiser jumped down from the top of the Greed Demon.
He slowly walked around Albany with his hands behind his back.
His bloodshot eyes casually looked over his older brother.
"You know, Brother?"
"I should thank you for giving me the chance to make a deal with our uncle."
Hearing that, the First Prince's eyes suddenly widened.
"I still remember every word you used to curse me back then."
Owiser took a deep breath, as if enjoying everyone's attention.
He raised his head and looked at Albany with wild arrogance, shouting, "It was because of you! Albany!"
"It was you who made me make up my mind! It was your attitude that made me tear open the Southern Rift!"
Each angry shout made Albany's head spin and left the countless nobles speechless.
Finally, Owiser slowly calmed down.
He gracefully adjusted his collar, and his voice became calm again.
"The monster tide in the south wasn't caused by anyone else."
"It happened because of you."
"You couldn't keep the income of southern adventurers balanced, and you forced the army into the Rift frontline."
"By doing that, the guilds only earned more and more money, while ordinary adventurers, despite having plenty of strength, couldn't even afford a full meal."
"So how could they not become jealous? How could they not grow greedy?"
Owiser grinned as he looked at the speechless First Prince and smiled happily.
"So I simply magnified their jealousy and greed, and easily started this monster tide."
"I really have to thank you, Brother."
The First Prince's body trembled.
The nobles looked back and forth between Albany and Owiser.
Their eyes gradually filled with endless despair and disappointment.
If what the Second Prince said was true, then the First Prince couldn't even keep one city in balance.
Even his achievements had been fabricated.
That alone proved he was a failed prince.
But then...
Who among them was successful?
Compared to the Second Prince working with a demon, the First Prince actually seemed decent.
So now, all they could feel was despair and disappointment.
There was nothing else they could do.
But...
"Finished talking?"
The moment Viktor's voice suddenly rang out, everyone looked up.
Even Owiser froze for a moment before turning to look at Viktor in confusion.
Viktor was looking at him with complete indifference.
"Count Viktor."
"Have you still not accepted reality?"
Suddenly, Owiser laughed loudly and pointed at the enormous demon behind him.
His arrogant laughter echoed through everyone's hearts.
"Do you see that? That's a demon!"
"Count Viktor, I admit you're strong! But the truth is..."
His voice suddenly became calm, as though it were the last trace of his madness before it abruptly stopped.
"You can't defeat us."
Even the huge demon began laughing.
Its laughter spread for miles, carrying endless stench and greed.
The nobles fell into despair.
Even the elves became frightened by the endless laughter.
Cocotte could only pat them one by one, constantly comforting them.
"There, there. Don't cry."
"If you keep crying, Liya won't pay your wages tomorrow."
It worked well.
The elves quickly stopped crying.
But the despair hanging over everyone's hearts remained.
Amid the silence and soft sobs, Gwen slowly raised her head.
The armor on her body gradually began giving off a faint light.
But before she could move, Liya reached out and stopped her.
"No need, Gwen."
Gwen turned to look at her.
Liya was watching Viktor in the distance as she gently shook her head.
"Trust Viktor."
At the same time, after both the demon and Owiser's laughter finally stopped, Viktor slowly raised his head.
There wasn't a trace of emotion on his face.
He opened his mouth and coldly said to Owiser, "I once promised His Majesty that I would never kill you."
Hearing Viktor's words, Owiser's expression froze for a moment.
He frowned and was just about to speak when Viktor continued.
Viktor looked up.
His merciless eyes carried a chilling killing intent.
Together with the howling wind and blizzard around him, it sent icy cold straight into Owiser's heart.
"What made you think..."
"...that you've already won?"
As soon as the words fell, a blood-red aura rushed in from every direction.
The sky was once again covered by thick crimson clouds.
The land fell into deep silence once more.
This blood-red sky was different from before.
Instead of looking thick and oily, it resembled raging flames, flickering wildly.
It was as if countless living creatures with torn-open mouths were trying to rip apart the sky beyond the clouds.
Soon, the crimson clouds split apart.
Blood-red snow drifted down from high above.
The nobles stood frozen, looking up at the growing blood-red snowfall.
They stood there blankly, staring at the crimson snowstorm gathering overhead.
A burning pain suddenly spread across their faces.
Instinctively, they reached up to touch them.
Their fingertips came away stained with dark red blood.
The nobles widened their eyes and carefully looked at the growing crimson storm.
'Wait...'
'That didn't seem to be ordinary snow...'
'It looked like...'
'Iron filings...'
The crimson color continued gathering in the sky until it completely replaced the white snowfall.
Several nobles looked up with wide eyes, their faces full of shock.
Ignoring the cuts on their faces, they pointed toward the other side of the sky and shouted, "Look at the sky!"
"What... what's happening?"
Their cries caught the attention of the others.
They also looked up and saw crimson light flashing through the clouds like lightning.
They widened their eyes and stretched their necks, enduring the fierce wind and their robes whipping around them as they stared into the distance.
The elves huddled together in fear around Cocotte's cloud.
Compared to humans, they could sense just how terrifying this power was.
The disturbance in the sky spread across nearly half the royal capital.
The crimson clouds expanded in every direction, even reaching the nearby residential districts.
The knights quickly organized the civilians and guided them away from the area.
As they looked up at the sky, an uneasy feeling rose in every knight's heart.
While the crowd was moving, one resident hurried over and anxiously grabbed a knight's arm.
"Sir Knight, what's happening?"
Late at night, the knights had suddenly appeared in the residential area and awakened everyone.
Something terrible had obviously happened.
The knight bent down and spoke seriously, "I know you have many questions, but don't ask them now."
"Trust us."
"Don't look back."
The civilians living here knew nothing about what had happened at the royal palace banquet hall.
So they had to keep them from seeing the demon behind them.
Some residents, seeing how serious the knights were, didn't dare turn around.
They could only grumble to themselves and curse under their breath.
Others also didn't dare look back, though they were full of dissatisfaction and confusion.
Being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night and then forbidden to look behind him was too much for one curious resident.
He couldn't help turning around.
But the instant he did, he froze.
His eyes went wide with terror.
His lips trembled.
His limbs went weak.
He couldn't make a sound.
The fear deep inside him had robbed him of the ability to speak.
It was a scene no one could ever forget.
The gloomy sky had been torn apart by a blood-red crack.
Lightning-like crimson light split open the night.
Countless blood-red flakes poured down from the clouds, gradually covering the sky.
Half of an enormous blood-red hand reached out from the crack and tore apart the heavy clouds on both sides.
Then a gigantic crocodile wrapped in endless crimson slowly emerged.
Thick blood vessels spread across its body.
Its enormous mouth, filled with savage teeth, stretched out from the sky and slowly descended toward the earth.
A storm of iron filings swirled violently around the demon-like creature.
Its eyes were crimson.
Violent.
Cruel.
The countless nobles standing beneath the rift looked up.
After the Greed Demon, another demon had appeared.
The giant demon slowly lowered its body and stood firmly behind Viktor.
Like a giant completely consumed by rage.
With a single breath, it stirred up waves of violent wind.
The enormous blast made Viktor's black coat flap loudly as it whipped through the air.
Viktor slowly raised his head.
A trace of contempt burst from his eyes and pierced straight into the Second Prince's heart.
"You challenged me."
"Do you think you're qualified?"