“You noticed us sooner than I expected.”

“In truth, I went to Dreadlore first. But I didn’t see you within the enemy troops, so I became suspicious. I realized that you were scheming something.”

A flock of crows gathered and fused to form a woman.

Angrboda revealed her true form, and Brynhild hurriedly flew toward her and shouted.

"Be careful! That witch has regained considerable power.”

“Ho ho ho ho! I have to thank Aleister for that. I can’t tell you what he did to me though.”

Apparently, they had prepared a place similar to the Memory Garden in the Dane Kingdom.

Woohyuk unfolded his abyssal wings on his back and lifted Verserios.

“Is Aleister currently in the Norton Kingdom?”

“Who knows? Maybe, maybe not. Whatever the answer is, it’ll be disadvantageous to you.”

“How hilarious. Do you think you people can stop me?”

Woohyuk had a rough understanding of their intentions.

They were going to secure the Edda Chronicles and the Homunculus located in the Valkyrie's Ruins.

Afterwards, he would gain an upper hand over Eteria Rodinus and would expand his influence around the world.

Both groups were trying to fulfill their desired future by using the power of the Demon G.o.d.

But Woohyuk had no intention of dancing along in their tunes.

'I’ll act according to my own beliefs.'

He would accept convincing arguments and opinions, but he would not be dragged around.

The burden he was bearing was just far too heavy for him to act recklessly.

He couldn’t let others make the important decisions, since powerful enemies continued to pop up ever since his regression.

Woohyuk flew toward Angrboda with a determined expression, but Nigel blocked his path.

“Don't ignore me. I’m your opponent.”

“Get lost. You’re just a mutt following the orders of someone else.”

“I was quite surprised earlier. Our power-gap was a lot bigger than I thought.”

Nigel gently admitted his inferiority to Woohyuk.

Woohyuk was just insanely strong.

However, while it was impossible for Nigel to beat him on his own, there was a chance if he fought alongside Angrboda.

'As I thought, things never go according to plan.'

Woohyuk’s original plan was to defeat each of them one after another.

But in truth, this situation wasn’t so bad.

The worst case scenario would be Aleister Crowley intervening during the battle, though.

In order not to give him an opportunity to join the enemies, Woohyuk summoned the six Demon Kings sealed within Lemegeton.

“Do not hold back. They are now your enemies.”

Even if Woohyuk were defeated and lost Lemegeton, the sealed Demon Kings would not regain their freedom.

Lemegeton's restraints would persist for another 500 years at the very least.

The six Demon Kings absolutely detested the idea of being under the orders of other Demon Kings or Witches, so they prepared their battle stances.

“Hey, Angrboda! Nice job abandoning us and escaping to the Norton Kingdom on your own back then!”

“I will never let a b.i.t.c.h like you obtain the Edda Chronicles!”

“If my unchangeable destiny is to serve someone, I choose Lord Asura! Unlike you people, he has the qualities to challenge the Demon G.o.d position!”

The three Demon Kings of Ars Notoria were particularly enthusiastic.

Even though they had provided her a sanctuary in their territory, Angrboda didn’t cooperate with them.

As the powers of the Demon Kings raged like a storm, Nigel glanced at Angrboda.

She understood his intentions through the glint in his eyes.

They would activate ‘it’ as planned.

Angrboda nodded and took out a board with a red b.u.t.ton from her chest.

She then pressed the b.u.t.ton, and...

Zaaaap!

A huge hemispherical barrier with a radius of about 500m unfolded with black electric sparks on its surface.

The soldiers who were fighting a fierce battle stared in surprise at the sight.

The barrier had covered the entire battlefield.

Nigel had only gathered elites in his army as well, so the overall number of fighters on this battlefield was small.

“What are you trying to do?”

“Ho ho ho ho! Aleister gave me a fun little invention. He calls it ‘Black Demolition’.”

A magically engineered item that converted the mana inside it into black particles and sucked in all the demonic energy within its range.

Against it, even powerful Demon Kings would be helpless for a short while.

“Ugh...!”

As his instincts alerted him, Woohyuk stopped his attacks.

A feeling of helplessness surged in him along with extreme pain.

The black current in the barrier had penetrated his body and was sucking up his energy.

It was the same case for Sieg and the other Demon Kings, so they could only stand in place.

With her plan being successful, Angrboda smiled cheerfully and looked down at Woohyuk.

He was considerably sluggish due to the influence of Black Demolition.

His other va.s.sals were shocked and couldn’t react quickly.

Suddenly, Brynhild lifted her spear high and cast a divine spell: Judgement Flames.

Rumble!

As golden flames swirled around her spear blade, Angrboda glared at the Valkyrie.

“Those flames remind me of bad memories. During the War of G.o.ds and Demons, a Valkyrie burned my heart with those Judgement Flames.”

“And it seems like you will face the same fate again.”

Valkyrie Brynhild was not affected by Black Demolition at all.

The same went for Helena and the other regular clan members.

There was no disadvantage for them since they didn’t have demonic energy, other than the fact that they were trapped in the barrier. 

Meanwhile, Nigel's undead forces were on the verge of collapsing.

They didn't have protective s.h.i.+elds against the erosion of Black Demolition like Nigel and Angrboda.

In other words, this strategy was a great gamble.

If Nigel and Angrboda couldn't win the battle during the duration of Black Demolition, they would most likely end up in a corner once the effects subsided.

A certain saintess spoke to the battle-ready Valkyrie.

“Leave Nigel to me. It must be difficult for you to deal with both of them.”

It hadn’t been long since Brynhild was revived, so she lacked a lot of divine power.

Helena lifted her staff and a white magic circle spread across the snow-covered land, creating a huge pillar of light.

Lightning Strike.

It was a divine spell that could exert high power in this situation, since everyone was weakened by the black barrier.

“Urgh...!”

The vigilant Nigel hurriedly teleported himself to avoid the attack.

Even if it was merely intermediate-level divine magic, the caster was a saintess.

Even Nigel, the Lich Lord, would not win unscathed if he faced her.

“Are you intervening in this fight, you haughty woman?”

“Why? Can’t I? You’re always calling me the Witch of Profanity, so I need to show you my worth as a Saintess.”

Helena glanced at Woohyuk while casting another divine spell.

Despite having sluggish movements, Woohyuk was still battling against Nigel.

Sieg and the other Demon Kings were also helping him.

“You shouldn’t let your guard down, you pretty little saintess.”

Three dark humanoid figures appeared behind Helena as one of them spoke with a deep voice.

Nigel had summoned the liches in Dreadlore since the situation had become unfavorable.

Despite the dangerous surprise attack, Helena smiled with ease.

“Oh, but I haven’t let my guard down at all.”

Golden flames encircled Helena's body in the shape of an angel.

Liches running toward her burned down and melted into nothingness, and Angrboda's eyes widened.

"Don’t tell me… are you...?"

There was only one saint who could possess that level of divine power.

During Angrboda’s astonishment, the Valkyrie's spear bolted towards her face.

Swooos.h.!.+

“You shouldn’t look away during a fight. Are you looking down on me?”

Despite having her abilities limited, Brynhild was still a bona fide Valkyrie.

She flapped her white wings and began an onslaught, to which Angrboda avoided while frowning.

'We need to get rid of those b.i.t.c.hes right now...’

They could only resist Asura and the other Demon Kings’ attacks for a short while.

Nigel's expression darkened as the battle became difficult due to Helena's intervention.

“Ugh... We’ll have to use our last resort now.”

Demonic energy had condensed in the center of the barrier due to the activation of Black Demolition.

If he absorbed it, he would temporarily obtain immense power.

Nigel lifted his crystal wand while looking down at the defeated undead troops.

Swoooooooooooooooooos.h.!.+

The demonic energy which had been condensed swirled violently and began to get sucked into Nigel's body.

Angrboda clicked her tongue at that sight and muttered.

“… That fool. He can’t handle that much demonic energy.”

If Nigel absorbed energy beyond what his body could handle and accept, he would physically explode.

Since Angrboda could get caught up in the explosion, she transformed into hundreds of crows.

Caw! Caw!

The crows flew toward the edge of the barrier while evading Brynhild's attacks.

Shortly thereafter, Nigel burst into laughter like a madman as he continued to absorb the energy.

“Kekekekekek! I feel as if I could take on the world! Take a look! Are you still going to fight against me?”

A purple sphere emerged from Nigel's crystal wand.

He then shot it toward Woohyuk as it emitted dark electric sparks.

Boooooooooooooooooooooom!

With a huge noise, the air and ground shook and a crack appeared on the barrier’s surface.

Cold sweat ran down the Demon Kings’ neck due to the immense power of this blow.

However, Woohyuk gritted his teeth and endured the explosion.

“Urgh...!”

His demonic energy was not moving as intended.

Even the Queen Star Snake Ghost could not absorb attacks of such power.

As Woohyuk struggled, Nigel laughed louder in satisfaction.

“Kekek! Kuhahahahaha! Just where did all your confidence and arrogance run off to? Is that all you can do?”

Now that Asura couldn't show off his abilities, Nigel had the greatest opportunity to kill him.

If he managed to kill Woohyuk, he would become Nakron's successor.

He could then unlock the seal on the throne and be reborn as the true Lord of Dreadlore.

Nigel prepared a larger purple sphere than before, but...

Swoooh!

A dazzling golden flame bolted toward him from below.

Having revealed her abilities, Helena had casted a stronger divine spell.

“Tch...!”

Nigel frowned and threw the purple sphere into the golden flame.

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!

The barrier shattered along with the sound of an explosion comparable to a nuclear bomb’s.

It couldn't withstand the relentless internal shocks.

Meanwhile, the golden flame was overpowering the purple sphere.

“… d.a.m.n it!”

Nigel cursed and imbued a lot more demonic energy into the overwhelmed purple sphere.

Crack!

A fissure appeared on his crystal wand which was emitting an odd smoke.

It was getting destroyed due to absorbing an unbearable amount of energy.

And the same could be said for Nigel.

“Cough...!”

Nigel vomited black blood and began to swell up like a drowned body.

Before long, he burst apart and thousands of pieces of him scattered in all directions.

A swirling golden flame swallowed all of Nigel's fragments, and Angrboda clicked her tongue.

“I didn’t think this would happen...”

Their entire plan was perfect, but the only variable was Helena.

And her presence had ruined everything.

As the Witch tried to escape as a flock of crows,

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Woohyuk asked with a cold expression as he raised VVerserios.

The six Demon Kings were standing behind him.

On the other side were Sieg, Helena, and Valkyrie Brynhild.

Angrboda gulped as she stared at the powerful enemies charging at her.

“s.h.i.+t…”

Those were her last words.