The ruined banquet hall had been replaced by a forest that had grown back. The remaining half of the golden light was now completely covered by thick green leaves.
Countless elves were brought by Cocotte to the area around a giant tree.
They climbed onto the branches, poked their heads out from the dense leaves, and curiously looked at the tall transparent barrier rising before them.
Thanks to Cocotte's careful protection, the elves had completely avoided the fighting in the courtyard and were able to safely watch everything.
The nobles stood around the edge of the courtyard, looking up. Pale light filled with shock and confusion flickered in their eyes.
Even now, they still couldn't understand why this group of demon hunters had suddenly appeared.
The Empire kept strict control over the identities of visitors, especially in the royal capital.
Every non-Empire resident entering the capital had to go through strict identity checks.
This ensured the Empire knew every outsider's background.
For an organization like the demon hunters to suddenly appear in large numbers in the royal capital without any information about them being exposed...
that was almost unheard of in the Empire.
Not only had they appeared in the capital this time, they had come in groups.
If they hadn't suddenly appeared around the banquet hall, the nobles present probably would never have noticed them before they left.
But then they remembered that the Empire's Queen was also a demon hunter.
Everything suddenly made sense.
So they failed to notice...
when Liya saw those demon hunters in the distance, she immediately lowered her head, covered her face with both hands, and stayed silent.
Seeing Liya like this, Gwen thought she wasn't feeling well.
So she gently patted Liya on the back and asked softly,
"Liya, what's wrong?"
"N... nothing."
Liya raised her head and forced out a faint smile.
Because she had recognized them.
Those demon hunters were the same people who had recently signed contracts with the Clavens and had been forced to work at her family's house.
Without even thinking, she knew Viktor had called them here again.
But the problem was...
Whether it was demons or secretly keeping these illegal demon hunters who had been smuggled into the country... either one was a crime.
And together, they were several crimes at once.
Although her family had done plenty of things that walked the gray area of the law before, this was different!
All the nobles and members of the royal family were gathered here. What Viktor had done was no different from stripping naked in front of everyone.
Once the nobles recovered from the shock, everyone would know just how outrageous her family's crimes were.
After a long while, Liya took a deep breath.
After thinking for a long time, her expression gradually relaxed.
"Forget it."
'A crime? Then it's a crime!'
Her family had already openly declared support for Princess Aurelian anyway.
Once the princess took the throne, Viktor would still be her teacher.
Who would care what illegal things their family had done?
Thinking of this, Liya simply stopped worrying about the family's reputation.
There was no point worrying anyway. The Claven family's reputation getting worse was only a matter of time.
It had never been that good to begin with.
With that thought, Liya finally relaxed.
Only then did she have time to look toward the transparent barrier ahead.
She was too far away to clearly see what was happening inside.
She only knew Viktor was still in there, and couldn't help feeling worried.
'That demon looks so terrifying...'
'Viktor shouldn't get hurt, right?'
Thinking of this, she turned to Gwen beside her and asked, "Will this be enough to stop the Sec... the demon?"
Before Gwen could answer, a somewhat familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind them without warning.
"The Second Prince is the demon's vessel."
"What we need to do is remove the demon from the Second Prince."
Hearing the voice, both of them turned around.
It was a woman wearing a silver-white mask and the same tight-fitting demon hunter uniform.
Her graceful figure was faintly visible beneath the suit, while a wide black hood covered her hair and half her head, hanging past her shoulders.
With crisp footsteps, she walked over and stopped in front of Liya.
Hearing what she said, Liya looked confused.
She hadn't understood a word.
As if realizing that, the woman explained it again in much simpler terms.
"We can guarantee the demon will be restrained."
Liya understood immediately.
Seeing that the woman wore the same clothes as the demon hunters inside, she felt her words were probably trustworthy.
At that moment, however, Gwen's eyes suddenly fixed on the female demon hunter.
Feeling Gwen's gaze, the woman gave two light coughs before speaking in a lower voice, "Ahem... Is there a problem?"
She even deliberately made her voice rougher.
Gwen didn't answer.
She simply lowered her head and looked the demon hunter up and down.
Her eyes repeatedly swept across the woman's chest, as though measuring something.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the distance.
The pale domain slowly disappeared.
The transparent barrier reaching into the sky shattered like broken glass, slowly collapsing from the air as countless intertwined patterns became unstable.
Feeling the huge wave of force coming from the center of the courtyard, Gwen and Liya quickly turned around.
The nobles widened their eyes in shock as they watched the towering barrier crack apart and pale fragments scatter through the air.
As the barrier disappeared,
the enormous demon trapped above the clouds began falling from the sky.
Its massive body gradually came into view as it dropped toward the ground.
BOOM!
The instant the huge body hit the ground, it kicked up a cloud of dust over ten meters high, and the courtyard floor split apart once more.
As the dust settled, the Crown Prince stared with wide eyes at the giant demon lying in the courtyard, unable to believe what he was seeing.
The enormous Minotaur demon had already been stripped of much of its power.
It lay weakly on the ground. Its huge body rapidly shrank until it was much smaller than before.
Its entire body was tightly wrapped in pale chains, while its limbs were firmly nailed down by thick silver spears.
At this moment, everyone present seemed to realize something and quickly looked toward the demon hunters.
All the demon hunters stood behind Claudia with straight backs, like loyal guards.
Claudia remained where she stood, still gripping a long silver spear.
With light footsteps, she slowly walked toward the Minotaur demon.
The huge demon slowly raised its head.
The moment it saw Claudia, the red light in its eyes dimmed, filling instead with sorrow and pleading.
But it couldn't speak.
Its upper and lower jaws had been pierced by a spear made from a special material, sealing its mouth completely.
So it could only breathe heavily through its nose.
Claudia walked closer to the demon.
The blood-red eye gradually returned to calm.
She looked at the demon before her, its jaws pierced by the spear, her expression unchanged.
At this moment, Viktor stood behind the Queen and gave her a slight bow.
"Your Majesty, your speed in handling this surprised me."
Without turning around, Claudia replied calmly, "I know the Demon of Envy. I know everything about it, including every one of its weaknesses."
She lowered her eyes and looked at the Second Prince.
Her calm gaze met his.
"Family."
"Friendship."
"Love."
"Wealth."
"Status."
"Fame."
"Nothing affects the emotions of Envy more easily than these."
After speaking, Claudia lightly twisted her wrist.
The silver spear spun gracefully through the air.
The killing intent in her eyes pierced straight into the Second Prince's heart.
"Every mistake began with me."
"So I should be the one to end it."
Holding the silver spear in reverse, Claudia looked ready to drive it through the Second Prince's head at any moment.
Owiser collapsed to the ground in terror, helplessly watching his mother.
It felt as though that cold spear would pierce him the very next second.
Whether that strike would kill him or not was uncertain.
But he would certainly lose half his life.
Claudia, however, showed him no mercy.
Finally, under Claudia's strength, the silver spear thrust toward Owiser's head.
But the instant she struck, a powerful golden repulsive force suddenly appeared in the air.
It became an invisible wall of pressure that firmly stopped the tip of the silver spear.
The spear trembled slightly.
Golden light floated in the air, continuously drifting behind the Queen.
Watching the spear shake in midair, Claudia's eyes behind the mask widened slightly in surprise.
Suddenly, an overwhelming force knocked the silver spear away.
It traced a pale arc through the air.
Clang!
The spear bounced several times across the cracked courtyard before stabbing deep into the ground among several fallen nobles.
Looking at the silver spear that had passed only a few centimeters from their faces, the nobles trembled in fear.
The sound of it cutting through the air in those few seconds left a scar on them they would never forget.
Seeing this, the demon hunters immediately became alert.
They quickly drew the weapons hidden at their sides, their eyes fixed on the demon lying ahead.
At the same time, Claudia followed the spear's path with her eyes.
Suddenly, clear and sudden applause came from the sky behind her.
Clap!
Clap!
Clap!
As the applause echoed out, she turned back and looked toward its source.
The moment she looked, her eyes gradually froze.
The other nobles heard the applause as well.
When they looked up at the sky, they froze just like Claudia.
Because the person in the sky was none other than Leopold.
Still wearing his gentle smile, he walked slowly down golden steps that appeared in the air beneath his feet.
He applauded as he descended toward the ground.
'Th... that's Leopold?'
'Isn't he just a businessman?'
'How could he walk in the sky?'
Before anyone could recover, Leopold's golden eyes had already settled on Claudia.
"Your Majesty, educating your child is perfectly fine."
"But isn't domestic violence... going a bit too far?"
His light footsteps landed on the ground.
Looking at the dying Minotaur demon beside him, whose eyes were filled with pleading, he shook his head with pity.
"What a pitiful child, beaten into this state by his own mother."
With a light wave of Leopold's hand, the spear piercing the Minotaur's jaws was mysteriously pulled free.
Finally able to speak, Owiser hurriedly shouted, "Un... Uncle! You've come to save me!"
"Of course."
Leopold nodded with a smile.
"After all, you still have value."
Owiser nodded frantically.
"Uncle, quick... hurry and save me fro..."
Slash!!!
Before he could finish, a silver spear suddenly broke through the golden repulsive force flowing backward.
It left a silver trail through the air before piercing straight into Owiser's flesh-covered bull head.
At that instant, the entire courtyard fell into dead silence.
The bright red light in Owiser's eyes froze.
Darkness gradually spread across them, covering the last remaining light.
BOOM!
With a loud crash, the enormous bull head slammed heavily onto the ground, sending dust flying.
At that moment, everyone in the courtyard fell silent.
Even Leopold, who had worn a smile the whole time, froze in place as if time itself had stopped.
"Your Majesty, you said family matters should be handled by the family."
"I agreed."
"But this is no longer your family matter, so..."
As a cold voice slowly rang out, light footsteps approached from nearby.
Everyone immediately looked toward Viktor.
They saw him holding one hand up.
The pale blue magic in his palm was slowly fading away.
Then he put both hands into his pockets.
Under everyone's gaze, he casually walked over to the lifeless demon.
At the same time, Viktor's icy eyes settled on Leopold.
His voice, as cold as snow and ice, echoed in everyone's ears.
"Can I start hitting people now?"