The three demons surrounded the Second Prince, attacking from every direction.
Yerm swung one of his short, thick giant hands and slammed it hard into the Second Prince's stomach.
Taking advantage of the moment the Second Prince staggered backward, Leighton rushed in and threw a heavy punch.
Even though Puki's mind was hazy, he still kept fighting.
Like someone waking up with a bad temper, he suddenly stretched out a dog leg and gave the Minotaur-like Second Prince a hard kick to the knee.
Two fists couldn't beat four hands and two feet. Under the three-on-one beating, the Second Prince was steadily pushed back.
The nobles sitting on the ground nearby stared with their mouths hanging open.
One by one, they watched the fight in a daze, their stiff expressions making them look like clay statues.
Even the elves, who had been taken far away by Cocotte, looked at the battle between the demons with shock in their eyes.
Only Liya reacted differently from everyone else. She tucked her head down and desperately buried herself in Gwen's arms.
Her heart was in chaos, and her cheeks had turned as red as ripe apples.
It's over, it's over. Another demon. The Clavenna family has completely lost all its dignity this time.
Helpless, Gwen could only hold Liya and gently stroke her head to comfort her.
Watching the demons gain the upper hand, Cocotte lay sideways on a cloud with great interest. After putting down her fellow elves, she flew over to Viktor and watched the show.
"So, you've been preparing for this all along?"
The sudden appearance of so many demons obviously wasn't a coincidence, especially these primal demons.
Cocotte wasn't some useless person either.
After all, she was an elf who had lived for hundreds of years.
Even though she'd spent most of that time asleep, she was still very knowledgeable.
Normally, meeting even one primal demon would be like winning the lottery.
Now, so many had appeared at once.
If someone said it was just a coincidence, no one would believe it.
Waves of air exploded outward in every direction.
As the wind kept blowing at the hem of his coat, Viktor calmly explained, "Demons are naturally drawn to one another."
So, all of them had been attracted by the newly transformed demon Second Prince and Yerm.
It had nothing to do with Viktor.
Cocotte rolled her eyes at him.
Only you would believe something like that. Who else would take your words seriously?
Of course, under Viktor's overwhelming strength, those nobles would probably believe this nonsense.
And she had more or less realized something.
Viktor seemed to be trying to gather all the demons.
She just couldn't understand why.
Why hadn't Viktor acted yet and ended this farce sooner?
From what she knew, if Viktor wanted to make a move, then even with the Second Prince's demonic power, he would have already been knocked down by a single spell.
One spell not enough? Then cast another.
But until now, Viktor had only used one simple fifth-tier spell, and it had only hit his own undercover agent.
Other than the three demons taking turns beating up the Second Prince, Viktor hadn't made another move.
There was also something Cocotte wasn't sure whether she should say.
She kept feeling that the Second Prince looked... kind of stupid.
Did he really think that with this little bit of strength, he could deal with Viktor?
The battle in the Padarenbu Sea had been broadcast to the whole world.
If you wanted to stand against Viktor...
Shouldn't you first ask yourself whether you were strong enough to match a Calamity?
At that moment, the pale and absent-minded Crown Prince also walked over.
He looked up at Owiser being punched over and over by the three demons, a trace of struggle flashing across his eyes.
In the end, the Crown Prince sighed and relaxed his tightly furrowed brows.
Seeing the gloomy Crown Prince approach, Cocotte greeted him first.
"Yo, little golden guy."
Hearing that, the Crown Prince forced a smile at her.
There seemed to be a hint of self-mockery in it.
He turned to Viktor and asked in a trembling voice, "Count Viktor... Owiser... can't he be changed back?"
Viktor quietly stood where he was, looking up at the three demons carrying out a righteous three-on-one beating.
The battle before him amused him like a play.
Hearing Albany's question, Viktor answered while continuing to watch.
"Do you really want him to recover?"
The Crown Prince paused and slowly raised his head.
He looked at Owiser, who was taking one punch after another, his heart in turmoil.
After all, that was his own family.
But when he thought about everything Owiser had done, he found himself unable to say much.
In the end, he still pleaded, "I only hope... that you won't kill him."
Viktor smiled faintly and calmly replied, "Don't worry. I've never considered him my enemy."
The Crown Prince's eyes showed obvious surprise.
The next second, Viktor's voice became even colder.
"A man blinded by jealousy, willingly letting himself become someone else's weapon."
"He's not even worth dealing with personally."
The moment those words fell, the Minotaur Owiser was overcome with fury.
Even though he was only being beaten, Owiser still refused to give in.
His body began to swell as power surged through his limbs.
With an angry roar, Owiser released a shockwave that blasted the three demons around him away.
His rage reached its peak.
Veins bulged across his demonic body as he roared, "Enough!"
A deep red light filled the Minotaur's eyes.
Crimson flames even spread from his head into his black horns.
BOOM!
In an instant, a violent shockwave burst outward.
The dark sky, already torn open by the blood-red rift, became even heavier.
The terrifying power tore apart the black smoke in the sky, which quickly turned into thorn-covered vines that gradually covered the blood-red crack.
As the sky was torn apart, the earth changed as well.
Black thorny vines burst from the ground and spread across it, surrounding everyone within thick black walls.
Clouds of dust and black mist blocked the nobles' vision.
Through the haze, they could clearly feel sharp stinging pain.
Their instincts told them that the pain came from the same thorny vines wrapped around the Second Prince.
The nobles immediately panicked and blindly groped around.
But everywhere their hands touched, there were only sharp thorns.
Only after the black mist slowly faded did they look up and see an enormous Minotaur head hanging high in the deep sky.
It had broken through the dense network of thorns, standing exposed before everyone.
The chaotic sky gathered together, pouring into the enormous Minotaur head.
Its crimson eyes were like two blood-red moons, shining over everything below.
As the Minotaur's jaw opened and closed, a chaotic bell-like sound slowly rang out, reaching everyone's ears.
"Now..."
"I'll show all of you..."
"...what kind of despair a true demon can bring!"
The heavy demonic voice shook the nobles to their core.
They could no longer stay calm.
Panic spread among them like a plague.
Then something even more terrifying happened.
Where the thorns had split open the earth, deep holes appeared.
Or rather, wherever those thorns had cut through space itself, deep voids had opened.
And from those patches of emptiness...
Countless strange-looking little demons poured out.
They climbed the black thorns and appeared before the ruined banquet hall.
They let out sharp, piercing cries and bursts of eerie cackling laughter.
Even their eyes were twisted into unbelievable shapes.
Only the flickering crimson light kept jumping at the corners of their eyes.
Looking at the little demons pouring out of the void, the surrounding nobles trembled all over.
Their eyes were filled with indescribable terror.
"W-What... what are those things?!", one noble screamed.
"Demons! They're all demons!", another noble cried out.
Even the elves standing far away froze in fear as they watched countless demons emerge from the void.
None of them had imagined this.
They had only come to the human world for a visit.
Instead, they had run into something this terrifying.
'So scary... If we'd known, we never would have left the Elven Forest. Wuwuwu.'
Watching the ground descend into even greater chaos, the Minotaur head in the sky burst into wild laughter.
"I'll throw the entire royal capital into chaos."
"I'll turn everyone's emotions into food for myself alone."
The Crown Prince's expression grew serious.
Looking at the Second Prince slowly emerging from the clouds, his pupils shook with shock.
Just then, a calm voice broke the silence.
"Has everyone been evacuated?"
The Crown Prince froze for a moment, then turned toward Viktor and answered blankly, "They should... mostly be evacuated by now."
Viktor nodded and continued, "His Highness Owiser is still a member of the royal family."
"No matter how serious his crimes are, the one to deal with him in the end shouldn't be me."
Hearing this, the Crown Prince became even more confused.
If Viktor didn't make a move... Who else could stop Owiser in his current state?
The moment that thought appeared, an ominous feeling rose behind him.
Viktor took out a transparent communication crystal and poured some mana into it.
Then, as if giving an order, he spoke into the crystal.
"Get ready. Begin the cleanup."
As soon as he finished speaking, countless silver daggers appeared from the cloud-covered sky like falling meteors.
They all stabbed into the bodies of the cackling little demons.
The noisy, piercing laughter instantly stopped under the flashes of silver light.
Countless little demons exploded like popped balloons.
Their twisted bodies turned into purple smoke and slowly scattered across the ground.
Even the Minotaur head in the sky stopped laughing.
It lowered its head blankly, staring at everything below in disbelief.
Suddenly, a powerful sense of dread rushed through its mind.
Its instincts screamed in warning.
Owiser felt as though something had locked onto him.
Like prey.
"If I didn't use a few tricks, it would've been hard to lure out this version of you."
Hearing Viktor's words, the Minotaur-like Second Prince immediately sensed he'd fallen into a trap.
He looked down and found that the three giant demons surrounding Viktor had disappeared without a trace.
At that moment, his mind buzzed.
Those three demons had joined forces to beat him up...
Just to force out all of his power?
Now that they'd achieved their goal, they all left?
'This... this was a trap!?'
But Viktor wasn't finished speaking.
Looking toward an empty space, he calmly said,
"So now..."
"...we can deal with him properly."
"Right, Your Majesty the Queen?"
'The Queen?'
'The Queen came?'
When the nobles heard Viktor mention the Queen, every one of them looked shocked.
Even the Crown Prince was stunned.
Because Viktor was talking about his mother.
Suddenly, countless demon hunters dressed in black uniforms stepped out of the surrounding darkness.
Their faces were hidden behind different masks, and each carried a different weapon.
Some stood on the ruins.
Some crouched beside broken walls.
Others rested on the thick branches of nearby trees.
But all of them had one thing in common.
Their eyes burned with fanatical crimson light whenever they looked at demons.
"Yes."
A cold voice sounded.
A woman slowly walked out of the darkness.
She wore a tight black uniform and a silver mask.
Her silver hair shone brightly.
The silver spear in her hand extended behind her, its tip scraping across the ground and sending out brilliant sparks.
The Queen walked gracefully toward the battlefield.
"My child."
Countless demon hunters turned their sharp, blade-like gazes toward her.
Behind the mask, one of Claudia's eyes glowed with a fierce crimson light.
There was a trace of pity for her own family.
But it disappeared from her eyes like a fish slipping through water.
"You have nowhere left to run."