Seeing this shocking scene, countless nobles felt their minds go blank.
They never would have imagined that one day they would see a mage throw such a terrifying punch.
The First Prince, still kneeling on one knee, was standing not far from Viktor.
He could directly feel the terrifying force of the punch rushing toward him.
The violent shockwave hit his face like a roaring tiger.
Fortunately, he wasn't the one facing that power head-on.
Otherwise, he might have been crushed into dust.
Even so, Viktor's strength left him completely stunned.
Was Viktor really a mage?
Of course, he wasn't the only one wondering.
Even Claudia, standing nearby, stared fixedly at Viktor's fist.
She could sense Viktor's power more clearly than anyone else.
To everyone else, it probably looked like Viktor had simply used overwhelming strength to send Leopold flying.
But only Claudia could tell.
Once again, Viktor had broken through that strange golden defense.
The golden barrier that had somehow knocked away her mercury spear had been as fragile as paper before Viktor.
Claudia clearly remembered that when Viktor threw that punch, she hadn't sensed him using any magic.
A demon hunter was extremely sensitive to magical power. If Viktor had cast magic, she would have noticed immediately.
Yet although Viktor hadn't used magic, she had felt an explosive surge of magical power from him.
It was like a calm sea suddenly erupting into towering waves that reached the sky.
Perhaps it was that sudden burst of magic that had allowed him to shatter the defense so easily.
But where had that magic come from?
Suddenly, as if realizing something, Claudia looked at Viktor's shoulder.
At the crow whose body was gradually giving off a faint blue glow.
Viktor didn't stay where he was.
After sending Leopold flying, he calmly walked toward him.
Meanwhile, the nobles were still lost in shock from Viktor's display of strength.
As the sound of steady footsteps echoed one after another, they all turned their heads in silent agreement toward the source.
When they saw Viktor casually walking up to Leopold, their eyes widened.
At that moment, everyone was so quiet they barely dared to breathe.
Amid complete silence, he stopped in front of Leopold.
Leopold was lying flat on his back.
His limbs were limp, and his whole body lay weakly on the ground.
His eyes were filled with confusion, and the golden light around him had completely disappeared.
As Viktor stood over him, Leopold's body trembled slightly, as though sensing something.
"Cough... cough..."
The cough left all the nobles dumbfounded.
'What?'
'He's still alive!?'
Leopold really hadn't died.
After coughing twice, he lowered his head slightly. His twisted facial features were crushed to one side.
Yet when he looked at Viktor, he still managed a smile.
"That really... hurt."
"I only told the truth. Did you really have to hit me like that?"
Using both hands against the broken wall, Leopold slowly pushed himself up and crawled out.
Under everyone's shocked gaze, he raised both hands to his face and forcibly twisted his distorted head back into place.
His facial features returned to normal with ease.
Everyone stared in disbelief as he casually reshaped his own face, goosebumps rising all over their bodies.
When he finished, Leopold raised his restored handsome face again, looked at Viktor, and smiled gently.
"Was I wrong?"
"Or..."
His eyes suddenly widened.
Ripples spread through his golden pupils.
Golden sand swirled like mist inside his eyes, spinning rapidly as though a violent sandstorm had formed within them.
In that instant, the air around Leopold seemed to freeze.
Silence filled the courtyard.
He slowly spoke, his voice low and firm, "Are you just as filthy as they are?"
His words echoed through the courtyard like thunder.
But Viktor's expression didn't change at all.
The first one to react angrily was Liya.
Her clearly annoyed voice rang out from nearby.
"Hey, who are you calling filthy?"
"You manipulated the prince into opening the Rift on purpose and tried to turn everyone in the south into your slaves!"
"The filthiest one here is you!"
Hearing that, Leopold narrowed his eyes and turned toward Liya.
The golden light flowing through his eyes didn't frighten her in the slightest.
Normally, any merchant who looked into those golden eyes would instinctively become afraid and lower their head to avoid his gaze.
That was why none of the nobles dared meet his eyes.
How many nobles weren't merchants in one way or another?
Even those who had never done business were no different.
Because every noble thought like a merchant.
Value. Profit.
They would stop at nothing.
That was something all Imperial nobles had in common.
Long ago, they had split into factions supporting either the First Prince or the Second Prince, all for the sake of gaining greater benefits and higher status for their families.
But Liya showed none of those reactions.
Not only did she refuse to lower her head, she cursed him outright.
Suddenly, Leopold remembered.
Not just now.
Earlier, when the Demon of Greed had appeared and spread its aura of greed throughout the area...
Every noble had been affected.
Only this woman hadn't been affected at all.
Perhaps he needed to rethink some of humanity.
Looking at Liya with his flowing golden eyes, he murmured, "What a... pure soul."
"Pure my ass!"
Her anger poured out like a storm as she sharply lashed out at Leopold again and again.
"You keep calling us filthy. What makes you so great!?"
"I hate hypocritical, double-standard trash like you more than anything!"
The string of insults completely stunned Leopold.
Even the nobles gradually came to their senses.
She was right.
Everything that had happened was because of Leopold.
The southern Rift hadn't been opened by the nobles.
The demons hadn't appeared because of the nobles either.
Yet Leopold kept calling them filthy and dumping all the blame on them.
What kind of twisted logic was that?
The nobles had respected Leopold before because he was the head of House Rayser.
But now he wasn't even pretending anymore.
There was no reason to keep respecting him.
Thinking that, the nobles gave it everything they had, arguing like rival factions fighting inside the Imperial court.
Everyone rushed to speak first, afraid another noble would steal the words they wanted to shout.
"Fuck you! So we're all filthy, and you're the only pure one?"
"You're the one who expanded the monster Rift, and now you're acting like some innocent saint?"
"Before accusing us, why don't you look at yourself? You do something this evil and still think you're right?"
"My son's still stationed with the southern army! If anything happens to him, House Nide will never let this go!"
"Count me in too!"
One after another, the nobles straightened their backs and cursed at Leopold.
Their noble elegance and refined manners were completely gone.
They cursed like ordinary people, letting out the raw insults buried deep inside them.
Leopold had become someone everyone hated.
Perhaps even he hadn't expected this.
When he looked at them now, not only did they refuse to avoid his gaze, they cursed him even harder.
Leopold slowly looked around.
Finally, his eyes stopped on the First Prince in the distance.
The First Prince looked straight back at him.
As their eyes met, the surrounding nobles suddenly fell silent together.
Only the First Prince's deep voice remained.
"Uncle... no, Leopold."
"I don't know what you're trying to do."
"But this is the Empire."
His eyes stayed fixed on Leopold, filled with disappointment.
"This is a place where you'll never be allowed to do whatever you want."
Leopold looked surprised.
His eyes widened slightly, as though he had never expected these humans to resist him.
Just then, a calm voice spoke beside him.
"The funniest part is that no matter how hard you try to keep up that fake smile..."
"The arrogance buried inside you always shows."
Viktor calmly looked at Leopold.
Leopold turned to face him.
His golden eyes met Viktor's gaze as Viktor continued, "Am I right, President of the Casidra Chamber of Commerce..."
"Leopold Nannard?"
Leopold's eyes widened slightly.
As though he understood something, he smiled in relief.
"So that's it. You learned my true identity. You know I'm not from the Empire, so that's why you all..."
Before he could finish, Viktor interrupted him, "Maybe that name doesn't suit you."
"I don't think you like it."
The moment those words fell, an enormous blue flame ignited behind Viktor.
Powerful magical power surged as layer upon layer of massive magic circles appeared behind him.
In the blink of an eye, an enormous dragon-head totem emerged from the center of the formation.
The dragon bared its sharp fangs, each snow-white tooth burning with terrifying flames.
Chaotic blue fire swept through the air, filling the surrounding space with scorching heat.
Viktor slowly raised the bird-headed staff in his hand and pointed it at Leopold's head.
His candle-like eyes shone brightly once again.
"Then..."
"Hermes."
"Do you like that name?"
At that moment, Leopold fell silent.
The golden sand in his eyes slowly flowed, like a sluggish, terrifying tide of sand.
A chaotic golden glow slowly rose around him as divine power gathered into floating golden dust that quickly swirled through the air.
With his head lowered, Leopold spoke in an extremely deep voice.
"You..."
"You want to ask how I knew?"
The instant the words fell, terrifying chaotic blue flames shot into the sky.
The enormous blue blaze spiraled upward.
Nine giant dragon heads of blue fire burst from the layered magic circles, crossing through the sky and lighting up the dark night.
The dazzling light from the nine dragons illuminated everyone's solemn faces.
The nobles' stunned eyes reflected nothing but brilliant flames.
It was as if they were tearing apart a world swallowed by chaos and igniting the final will to resist.
Even the gold in Leopold's eyes was covered by the brilliant blue light.
His entire body became wrapped in dazzling radiance.
"Sorry."
[Fifth-Tier Magic: Fall of the Nine Azure Dragons]
In an instant, the terrifying headless azure dragons roared, releasing terrifying shockwaves as they wheeled through the sky before crashing violently toward the ground.
Terrifying flames exploded across the earth.
The fire rising into the night tore everything apart, swallowing everything into the dragons' blazing light.
The heavy dragon roars sounded like tremors erupting from the depths of the world itself, shaking everything on the land.
As the shockwaves and flames slowly faded, the rumbling gradually died away.
Facing the blazing heat before him, Viktor's cold voice slowly rang out.
It sounded like the final judgment for the man before him.
"I think I know everything."
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