“Sheesh, this is troublesome.”

A woman with grayish brown hair looked into her hand mirror, which reflected a frown.

Her name was Catherine.

She was an executive of the Witch Cult who had infiltrated Erutonia with Anais under the orders of Aleister.

“What is the problem, Lady Catherine?”

“The man named Gwak Seyoung is dead. Killed by the King of the Rhine Kingdom.”

“Then what should we do about the sacrifices for the summoning?”

“We have no choice but to get them ourselves. They say that the security at Landium is extremely strict these days.”

An alliance of pirates known as the Sea Serpent's Fury, was guarding the Ernox Bay and preventing the Witch Cult to set foot on land.

There were a few members who luckily managed to infiltrate, but they weren’t numerous enough to pursue their own missions.

So Catherine paused for a moment and changed her horse’s direction towards a nearby town.

“It won’t be too late to get rid of Lee Jaesung later. Right now, we need to prioritize the summoning of the demonic beast Charybdis.”

“Great timing. The Kingdom’s army has been bothering us lately.”

They had been avoiding conflict during this mission to reach their destination as fast as possible.

In truth, although the army troops greatly outnumbered them, they wouldn’t find it easy to defeat Catherine and Anais, since those two were able to use the power of Sloth by contracting with Priscilla.

“As long as we kill the commander first, we can easily annihilate them all. No matter how well the current king has trained the military, an army without a commander is like a snake without its head.”

Catherine was familiar with the tactics used by the kingdom’s forces, because she was a competent commander of the Holy Apherian Imperial Army before joining the Witch Cult.

Therefore, she had the confidence to break through the gaps in their formations and bring back the neck of the enemy faction’s commander.

'I won't go down as easily as Amy.'

Kriemhild’s death was a big reason behind Amy’s helplessness against Woohyuk. He could easily kill her because she could no longer use the power of Envy.

Of course, another decisive factor was that she was forced to accelerate her plans and act recklessly because of the unexpected intervention by Woohyuk.

As Catherine steeled her heart, a dark wind blew out of nowhere and a black shadow appeared from nothingness.

“Oh my. You seem to be preparing a very dangerous scheme.”

It was Loengreen.

Catherine and Anais’s eyes widened in surprise by the sudden appearance.

"A, A demon?!"

“Are you here to disrupt our plans?”

They had heard that demons, like humans, frequently engaged in territorial disputes.

So, while it was unlikely, The Rhine King could have joined hands with another Demon King in exchange for giving him some a.s.sets.

Loengreen smiled gracefully as the two stared in all seriousness.

“Well, you can think of it that way. People like you who interfere with my love are definitely an enemy to me.”

To Loengreen, Woohyuk was a being that held great value to him.

So even though he hadn’t gotten requested by Woohyuk specifically, he decided to intervene of his own free will.

However, he had obviously hidden his lover, Mikaelovich, safely in a cave.

“I don't know how strong you are, but we won’t step back. If we do so, we will be severely punished by Priscilla, the Witch of Sloth.”

“I am not telling you to retreat. As long as you two are alive, you'll definitely bother us again.”

Loengreen opened his golden eyes as dark green hair fluttered in the wind.

The air around them suddenly decreased to freezing temperatures.

Catherine instinctively gulped in fear a momentarily.

‘A, a high-ranking demon…’

He was different from the 72 Demon Kings she had met so far.

His rank was most probably quite high amongst them.

As Catherine was contemplating what to do, Anais shouted with a venomous face.

“Do you think I’m going to let you kill me? Turner, get that guy already!”

“…Krrrr.”

Turner flashed red eyes and rushed to Loengreen.

Loengreen smirked when he saw the long nails filled with demonic energy on the tip of Turner’s fingers.

“Hoh, are you imitating the Werewolf's ability? Maybe that’s the reason why, but your movements are similar to his as well.”

It was Aleister Crowley who had given Turner this ability.

He was quite the mysterious person, one of the people who couldn’t be understood through common sense Loengreen had met.

Loengreen narrowed his eyes as if he had noticed Aleister’s handiwork.

Clang!

The purple nails. .h.i.t the intangible protective barrier and sparked.

But that's the extent of it.

Turner, who simply relied only on external abilities, could not be a worthy opponent for Loengreen.

“Get lost!”

As Turner struggled, Anais, who was watching from behind, sent out nine monsters at once.

Catherine summoned a jet-black twin sword and leapt into the air, as if there was nothing else she could do.

“It’s all useless, everyone."

With a cold tone, Loen Green vanished.

Afterwards, a single shadow ran like the wind and faced the three enemies at the same time.

“Urgh!”

“Agh!”

“Krrrr!”

When Loengreen's onslaught began, large and small wounds formed on the bodies of the three demonic people.

But that was the extent of it.

Even Loengreen could not inflict a decisive blow on them, because his magic had yet to fully recover.

“I've become so weak. To think that I’m struggling with an easy battle like this.”

Loengreen reappeared and spoke coldly.

He had paused his barrage of attacks as he thought it would be difficult to defeat them all at this pace.

However, there was no sign of impatience in his eyes.

Anais, gasping for breath, frowned as she saw his relaxed att.i.tude.

“Don’t look down on us! You can’t even rival Lady Priscilla!”

Lilith's Witches of Seven Deadly Sins were treated as equals to the 72 Demon Kings in the demon realm.

While there were differences in rank depending on individual abilities, it was clear that Priscilla was stronger than Loengreen.

“Are you discussing the dignity of the master you serve? Well, I am a subject of Demon King Agares...”

“Agares?!”

Demon King Agares, the 2nd ranking demon king.

Lilith was the only witch stronger than her.

Catherine opened her mouth in amazement while Anais stood speechless and blanked for a moment.

“…Then are you Loengreen?”

“Oh my, I’ve become a celebrity.”

Loengreen smiled with a troubled look.

Catherine was greatly agitated by the affirmation.

“The demon who fought equally against Demon King Orobas, the 55th ranker...”

Although it was said that Demon King Orobas was not in perfect condition, this was a major incident that caused a considerable sensation even within the demon faction.

However, Loengreen ended up suffering fatal damage and had to enter a long period of hibernation.

“It an exaggerated story. I am not such a terrifying being. That's why I'm having a hard time fighting against you guys.”

In fact, the reason why Loengreen was currently weaker than other high-ranking demons was largely due to the fierce battle against the Demon King Orobas at the time.

However, he tried not to mention it.

He didn't want to reveal the truth behind his strength to hostile forces.

'You have many enemies, Lord Asura.'

While he could be of help this time, Loengreen wasn’t certain he could help out in the future, Particularly in the case of Aleister. He was particularly concerned about Aleister because it was difficult to read his mind.

While Loengreen was worrying about Woohyuk in her heart, the sound of horses galloping rang from afar.

Thud thud thud.

Since he was buying time, the army of priests from the Izuna Kingdom had arrived.

“It’s the Witch Cult!”

“Don’t leave a single one alive and burn them all!”

The Spiritual Society at the forefront gave an urgent instruction.

Before long, a dazzling magic circle began to spread all around the area.

“I guess there are other people who are here to help him.”

Loengreen was rea.s.sured and calmed down.

Afterwards, he activated his abilities and attacked the three enemies who were standing blankly.

Slit!

Slit!

Thin, wire-like demonic energy spread like spider webs and butchered Turner's body.

It happened so quickly that Catherine and Anais were barely able to avoid and hold onto their lives.

Loengreen retracted his power with regret.

“As I thought, this is my limit for now. Oh well, I’m satisfied with the results.”

“This d.a.m.ned b.a.s.t.a.r.d…”

A furious Anais tried to rush back to Loengreen, but he flew into the air as if he had no intention of dealing with her.

“I don't want to waste any more energy. They will be your opponents fro now on. I’ll be leaving since I’m busy. Goodbye.”

Loengreen waved his hand and disappeared.

Ronald saw it and lifted his staff high in the sky.

“Hurry up! Don't let the Witch Cult escape!”

The priests in the rear were still casting their magic spells.

Those in the lower front were holding maces and charged towards Catherine and Anais.

Thump thump thump.

The sound of heavy horse steps echoed in the dark night sky.

“We really have dirty luck.”

“That’s true.”

After the high-ranking demon, even the priests of other countries were interfering with them.

Catherine frowned and took out her hand mirror.

As she touched her reflection, witches hiding around them suddenly appeared.

“I was trying to confuse the kingdom’s army by ambus.h.i.+ng them, but it’s so much better to fight openly like this!”

“We should’ve used it during our fight against Loengreen.”

It wouldn’t have helped at all, but she suddenly felt regretful.

As Catherine and Anais gave out instructions to the Witches, two groups appeared in the distance raising dust as they ran.

Those from the north were the army of the lords of the Erutonian region, and those from the south were from the kingdom’s army.

'We’re not too late yet.'

Lee Jaesung sighed in relief.

Because Loengreen declared that he would help Woohyuk, Jaesung was able to get permission from the king to set off and leave the camp.

'I will definitely protect the peace in the Erutonia region.'

He felt a strong sense of responsibility for this region as the lord. He had also witnessed the deaths of young people in battle against monsters firsthand previously on these lands.

That led to this departure where he left Sally of house Tannis, his fiancée, behind away from battle.

‘If I return alive, I'll have to have my wedding with her.’

I remembered Sally's tears as she said she would wait all night long for his return.

As he felt his heart warming, Lee Jaesung raised his right hand holding the prominent broadsword.

“No matter what happens, do not back down! If we fail to stop them, our families and acquaintances will be slaughtered!”

“Yeaaaaaah!”

“Long live Count Lee Jaesung!”

The soldiers' trust was very strong since they had protected the territory from monsters previously together.

When Lee Jaesung took the lead and led the army of the lords, the 3rd Corps Commander on the other side also began to advance.

Thud thud thud thud thud.

Thud thud thud thud thud.

The sound of footsteps of heavily armed soldiers followed.

“This is driving me crazy. They’re all coming in from 3 different directions.”

“Wha, what do we do? There are too many enemies...”

“We’ll have to do our best. If you think of it the other way around, these people are all offerings to be sacrificed.”

Catherine lifted her pitch black twin swords with a trumpy look.

Ronald stood in the way when she attempted to perform wide-range attacks on the mace-wielding priests.

“That ring belongs to the executives of the Witch Cult.”

“… Ronald of the Spiritual Society.”

Ronald was a well-known figure amongst the Witches.

Although he couldn't meet Eteria Rodinus, he was so good at divine magic that he could sooner or later join the ranks of saints.

“As according to the will of our great G.o.d, I will lead you down the path of purification tonight.”

"Try it if you can. Let’s have a look at your skills."

Catherine took out dozens of black monsters out of her body.

Before long, a fierce battle between the two unfolded.