The meteor, plummeting at an incredible speed, burned away all the air in its path. Even the towering academy spires were reduced to sand under the scorching heat.
The flames born from violent friction gradually engulfed the massive rock, turning it into a blazing red sun descending from the sky.
[Fourth-tier Magic: Falling Sun]
The heavens were scorched open, leaving a gaping hole from which a slanted beam of light poured down.
Viktor floated in the air, overlooking the demon like a god gazing down upon the earth.
The magic power of a fourth-tier mage was enough to reach the level of a natural disaster, hence the origin of the title Saint Mage.
In truth, "Natural Disaster Mage" was another name for those of the fourth tier, used to describe their vast and devastating magical mastery.
"...A Calamity Mage," Duke Levi murmured on the ground below. He lifted his head, eyes reflecting the falling sun.
Then, his eyes widened, the shock on his face instantly hardening into resolve.
"Everyone! Form a defensive array!"
At his command, the mage battalion and the knights quickly erected an orderly human wall.
Mages and spellcasters chanted in unison, and a golden wall gradually appeared, enclosing the students and mages within.
The knights crossed their swords and shields, white light flickering along the silver edges. In a flash, multiple white magic shields materialized before them.
The meteor's descent carried world-ending power. In an instant, flames burst from the surrounding rubble, and the scorching pressure shattered everything once more.
The combined barrier forged by the mages and knights wavered violently. Everyone present could feel the unbearable heat rising from beneath their feet into their heads.
The daylight vanished. Silence reigned.
Smells, sounds, everything, were stripped away by death itself.
Only the faint glow of the sun's remnant light reminded them that, somehow, they were still alive beneath this cataclysmic spell.
The meteor crashed down on the demon. Its flesh burst open instantly, sizzling and crackling, like it was being cooked alive in molten lava.
"Ahhh!!"
The devastating magic spared no one, friend or foe.
Buildings near the academy were swept up in the blazing shockwave. The townhouses turned to ashes in the blink of an eye.
"Damn it! Fourth-tier magic is this terrifying!?"
"Viktor, you're the real demon here!"
Everyone thought the same thing, but none dared to shout it aloud.
To speak was to open one's mouth, and let the burning air scorch their lungs alive.
When the blinding radiance finally faded, the barrier before them cracked and dissolved.
Dust and smoke filled the air.
"Did we do it? Is the demon destroyed?"
"With such a powerful spell, there's no way it survived."
"Did... did we win!?"
Relief spread across their faces. The ecstasy of surviving death filled their hearts.
But when the smoke began to clear, a massive, black silhouette emerged before their eyes.
"Hehehehehe!"
"You're all just worms. Worms!"
"What... what is that!?"
Everyone froze in place, horrified. None of them could comprehend how that monster was still alive after such an apocalyptic spell.
"That thing... it's still not dead!?"
Their brief joy plummeted into despair once again. Tears and cries spread through the crowd.
Hopelessness no longer needed to spread, it grew naturally inside every heart.
This was not the first time people had seen demons. In the past, there had been scattered reports of demonic attacks.
But most demons were small parasites, deceptive creatures that tempted humans or stole their power.
To most, demons were simply more dangerous beasts.
But the monster before them...
"Can anyone... really defeat something like this?"
Duke Levi's face was grim. Perhaps the only way to destroy such a demon was through a pre-prepared War Magic.
Viktor's fourth-tier spell was indeed powerful, on the level of a natural disaster, but compared to true War Magic, it still fell short.
Even so, the demon's strength was visibly fading. No one knew when it might weaken enough to be defeated, but at least the situation was improving.
If they could just hold it off long enough, if they could set up the War Magic array in advance, then maybe...
As Duke Levi pondered this, a lone figure entered his sight.
Viktor.
He stood alone amid the ruins, facing that monstrous demon head-on.
His dark cloak fluttered in the dust-laden wind, faint red runes flickering across its surface.
'What... is he planning to do?'
"So it's not dead after all," Viktor muttered, a dangerous light flashing in his eyes.
Before him, above the demon's head, floated a visible red health bar.
Next to it, its level, Lv.45.
Its level wasn't particularly high, but as a Boss entity, its strength was overwhelming.
The demon's HP had dropped below half and was still slowly decreasing, barely, but steadily.
That meant the demon wasn't as unscathed as it appeared.
It was surviving only by feeding on the vast magic it had absorbed from countless academy mages earlier.
But...
Far from its peak form.
Yerm. As the mid-boss of Chapter One in the game, Yerm's defeat at the hands of the players was always fated, more for the sake of the story than the battle.
Not all demons were equal. Those without intelligence or emotion were the weakest.
But Yerm, Yerm had a name that inspired dread.
The Primordial Demon.
One of the most powerful among its kind.
Its sin, Greed.
It was far stronger than the average player by an overwhelming margin.
During the event where players raided the imperial capital, Yerm had to be taken down with the help of numerous NPCs.
Among them, was Gwen, a year and a half later.
Viktor glanced back briefly. Gwen, wounded and unconscious, was already protected under a barrier he had cast.
A year and a half later, she would join the battle against Yerm, slaying it with her own hands, wielding terrifying power.
The knight who hated demons with all her heart, who wanted to exterminate them all.
The reason was simple.
Her elder sister, Kefra Delin, whom players had never seen, was killed by the Demon of Greed.
If nothing unexpected had happened, the demon Kefra came to the capital to hunt... was Yerm.
And her final fate, went without saying.
The demon spewed out black ink once more, spreading across the academy. From beneath the ink, countless tentacles stretched out, thrashing violently.
This time, the tentacles grew twisted, indescribable organs upon them, radiating whispers that awakened the greed in men's hearts.
Seeing the demon unleash such power again, many mages trembled, collapsing to the ground in terror, begging for mercy.
Viktor turned toward Yerm, unmoving in the storm.
The demonic voices washed over him, but his mind remained still as a calm lake.
Softly, he spoke, "Vega."
"Got it!"
Vega's excitement burst forth, its feathers puffed up, blue light blazing from its eyes.
A surge of pure mana flooded into Viktor's body, making him feel his strength swell explosively, stronger, fiercer than ever before.
'So, Vega's regained some of its power...'
Realizing the source, Viktor didn't hesitate further.
Dozens of crimson crystals flew from his body, these were the drops Gwen had gathered for him from slain beasts.
Now, they would serve their purpose.
The crystals embedded themselves into the ground, forming a vast red magic circle in the air above.
The gems began to crack, floating and reflecting an intense crimson glow.
From their corners, red chains shot out, linking together and wrapping tightly around the demon.
These magic relics amplified Viktor's spells, not only strengthening their power but also granting them special effects.
Soon, runes covered his hands. Magic surged from them into the chains and crystals above.
"The demons of a thousand eras, fall into stillness."
"The eternal prison, bind the minds of mad gods."
———
With each verse Viktor chanted, the chains flared with blood-red light.
A torrent of souls burst forth, swirling across the sky, filled with sorrow, rage, and unwillingness.
Blood light flashed across the heavens.
But with every chant, Viktor's mana reserves dropped sharply.
"What's Viktor trying to do!?"
The mages below looked up, horrified at the crimson souls drifting through the sky.
Then they realized, the greed within their own hearts had vanished.
They looked down to see faint red threads connecting their bodies to the chains above.
A terrible realization struck them all at once.
He was using them, every single one of them, as part of the formation.
'Damn you, Viktor!'
Every mage there cursed the same thought silently.
The demon grew even more frenzied. Its gaping mouth swallowed even its own head, erupting in an explosion of black droplets that rained down, corroding everything they touched.
Ruins melted away. The air turned sour.
Half the gloomy sky was burned off, split between bright and dark, eerie and unnatural.
Viktor pinched his fingers together and chanted, "Seal of the wicked, tighten layer by layer."
With a wave of his hands, the chains shuddered violently, striking the red crystals with crisp metallic echoes.
The demon's chaotic voice was gradually silenced, sealed completely within the chains, as a surge of white magic burst outward.
The pure white light devoured everything around it, blanketing the sky like a nuclear blast that consumed the entire academy.
Within that blinding brilliance, the demon's eyes widened in disbelief as it screamed, "You can't kill me, Viktor! I'll remember you!"
Because a demon's existence resided within its vessel, even if its true form appeared, any fatal damage would merely transfer to the host.
But suddenly...
Beneath the pale sky, a bridge formed, connecting Viktor and the demon.
Within this strange space, time itself seemed frozen. Only the two of them existed.
The demon couldn't understand. 'How... how could he reach this place?'
Viktor had entered its mental world. He stood before Yerm, his voice calm as water.
"Did you know, Yerm... I'm very good at dealing with demons."
The demon froze. Chains, countless spiritual bindings, tightened around its mind.
When one speaks a demon's true name, the balance of their pact shifts. The control of the contract passes from the demon, to the one who utters its name.
Yerm now had no choice but to accept Viktor's terms.
"Well then, haven't you made enough of a mess?"
"It's time to get back to work... Henny."
As soon as the words fell, Yerm felt its inner power draining rapidly.
It began to panic, screaming desperately, "No! Don't! Little girl, don't leave me! I can help you take revenge! I can give you more power, so much more, please!"
"Don't... go..."
Its pleas were useless.
Its massive body peeled away layer by layer, revealing the girl within, Henny.
Her bright amber eyes shimmered with tears as she fell from Yerm's body, limp and powerless.
Falling, as if from the heavens.
But the next moment, she landed in a solid, warm embrace.
Henny weakly tried to hold onto him, even if only for this fleeting moment of consciousness.
Shhhk!
A flash of white light tore through the world.
The raging power around them consumed everything, Yerm, the ruins, all within range.
Then, silence.
Only one voice remained, clear and tender, echoing in Viktor's ears.
"Professor."
"I missed you."
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