<h4>Chapter 92</h4>


    Demonic monsters were born from the dark mana of the demon race. Certain creatures such as orcs and trolls that were scattered across the continent also fell into that broader category. However, generations of evolution had diluted the dark mana in those species.


    The Minotaur before Caron, though, was no diluted variant. Minotaurs were beasts that had to be created directly by the demon race. In the armies theymanded, these creatures served as frontline shock troopers, living weapons in their own right.


    “Nice to meet you,” Caron muttered.


    The dark mana bore the wretched aura of the demons that had once ripped apart his entire life. Facing it now, he felt anger simmering deep within.


    <i>Whoosh.</i>


    A low hum rang from Guillotine, which sensed Caron’s intense hostility without a word. Dark blue mana gathered at the de’s edge.


    Roaring, the Minotaur swung a massive mace at Caron with astonishing speed for its size.


    <i>Boom!</i>


    The mace crashed into the ground, forming a deep crater, but it crushed only the lower-level monsters unfortunate enough to be nearby.


    Suddenly, Caron was sitting atop the Minotaur’s right arm, stabbing his sword deep into the monster''s thick muscles.


    <i>Thud!</i>


    Though the Minotaur''s skin repelled most magical spells, it couldn’t withstand Guillotine. The de sliced through it like a cake.


    “Let’s get started with your front leg,” Caron growled.


    <i>Whoosh.</i>


    <i>Crack.</i>


    Caron''s mana flowed into the Minotaur’s arm and swirled through its muscles like a raging current. Then, a brutal vortex of mana spiraled inside.


    The dark blue vortex turned the Minotaur''s right arm into a porridge-like mush. The monster let out an agonized bellow, blood spraying into the air as it writhed. Its legendary regeneration was useless against the relentless onught. Desperate to throw Caron off, it iled its body around, but he bnced effortlessly and leaped toward its left arm.


    “Guillotine,” Caron said.


    <i>"What, owner?" </i>Guillotine asked.


    “You’re the best,” Caron answered.


    <i>"Did you just realize that?" </i>Guillotine replied.


    Despite the immense vortex that had obliterated the Minotaur’s right arm, Caron’s mana reserves hadn’t diminished. In fact, his power surged, far more potent than when he’dst faced knights.


    <i>"I was made to purify dark mana. This is what I’m best at,"</i> Guillotine continued.


    Caron plunged his sword into the Minotaur’s left arm, then triggered another vortex that tore through it with brutal force.


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    <i>Crack!</i>


    In a sh, Minotaur had lost both arms, and Caronnded lightly on the ground.


    “Rooooooar!” The creature’s jaundiced eyes turned blood-red with rage.


    It had entered berserk mode, a technique of self-enhancement through dark mana that was simr to the knights’ overdrive technique. Berserk mode heightened physical abilities drastically. Though its arms had been shredded to bits by the vortex, veins wriggled up from the wounds like worms, knitting together to form a crude semnce of limbs.


    Caron licked his upper lip with a smirk, then said, “I went through all that effort to slice those arms off nicely. If you hadints, you should have said something sooner.”


    He shot a nce to the side and saw Leon looking worn and exhausted. Their eyes met, and Leon forced a weak smile before saying softly, “Caron, you made it."


    “Do you think you can still fight?” Caron asked.


    “...I''m not in great shape. Is there anything I can do to help?” Leon replied.


    “No, not at all,” Caron said as he adjusted his stance with a grin. “Just watch closely. It will be beneficial for you.”


    Caron had noticed that Leon had reached 6-Star, and that she was training in Maelstrom. Showing her Maelstrom firsthand would be invaluable to her growth, so Caron charged at the Minotaur once more.


    “There''s no need for me to wait for you to finish transforming,” Caron sneered.


    Then with a swift thrust, Guillotine pierced the Minotaur’s right foot.


    <i>Boom!</i>


    The creature’s leg exploded up to the shin. But Caron didn’t stop there, and quickly blew apart the monster''s left leg as well.


    <i>Thud.</i>


    Atst, the Minotaur crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact. But even as it fell, it fixed its furious red re on Caron, dark mana seeping from its gaze and pressing down on him. This was fearsome pressure, the unique aura of a high-grade monster.


    Leon tensed, but Caron only smiled more widely, striding forward toward the beast’s enormous head.


    “Finally, we''re at eye level,” Caron said with a calm confidence.


    He took another, deliberate step, ignoring the Minotaur’s slow regeneration. With each of his footsteps, the surrounding monsters flinched and backed away. An unnatural silence settled over the battlefield, where screams and wails had once echoed. Caron walked through the quiet and finally arrived before the Minotaur''s eyes. They were bloodshot and full of fury, locked directly onto him.


    <i>“Someone is watching you through this creature''s eyes,”</i> Guillotine hinted subtly as he discovered traces of dark magic.


    “Is that so?” Caron murmured.


    The one watching through the Minotaur''s eyes had to be the one who had orchestrated this disaster, likely the same being who had summoned the monsters to thisnd.


    <i>Thud.</i>


    With a swift motion, Caron drove Guillotine straight into the Minotaur’s eye. Then, to whomever was watching on the other side, he said in a low voice, “You''re next.”


    Whether or not it was a demon or a dark mage, Caron didn’t care. It didn’t matter who lurked in the shadows, because whoever they were, he intended to give them a gruesome end.


    “I''ll have you begging me to end your life,” Caron said. “And I’ll make sure it’s agonizingly brief, so look forward to it.”


    As his final word left his lips—


    <i>Boom!</i>


    The Minotaur’s head exploded into pieces, a shower of blood raining down. Caron sighed and released a quiet breath, using his mana to vaporize the blood before it reached him.


    A long-standing hatred lingered in his gaze, burning brighter than ever.


    ***


    After the Minotaur’s head exploded, dealing with the remaining monsters wasn’t much trouble. Most of them were frozen in terror, rendered motionless. Facing their natural predator, Guillotine, the monsters didn’t even resist. They met their end without a fight. Dealing with them while they were stiff as statues was almost too easy.


    “This is thest one, Caron,” Ut called out.


    “Good work, Ut,” Caron replied.


    With arms full of demonic monster corpses, Ut threw them onto the growing pile. In the center of the vige, a mountain of bodies had formed. There were easily over 150.


    “Are we burning them?” Ut asked.


    “Yes, we should. Leaving them will just poison thend,” Caron answered.


    “I figured,” Ut said with a nod. “I grabbed oil from the forge. I brought thest of the fuel.”


    “Better to be out of oil than to leave demonic monsters'' bodies lying around,” Caron agreed. Then he softly added, “Although...No one will be able to live here much longer anyway.”


    The vige had already been reduced to ruins. There wasn’t a single intact building, and the residents had nearly been wiped out. Barely ten survivors remained, a stark contrast to the number of buildings that hinted at what had once been a thrivingmunity. But it was no longer a ce for humans to live.


    “Then, I’ll start the fire,” Ut said, pouring oil over the corpses. He then tossed a lit torch into the pile.


    <i>Whoosh!</i>


    The pile burst into mes, and thick, acrid smoke billowed up. Caron swung his sword, directing the smoke up into the sky with a simple gesture.


    “Ohhh...!”


    "Honeyyy...!"


    Grieving wails filled the air as survivors mourned. The anguish of the dead met the sorrow of the living, creating a haunting atmosphere.


    Caron exhaled deeply, taking in the scene, before turning and walking toward Leo and Leon. It seemed that Leo''s fatigue had built up for a long time, as he was still unconscious.


    “I thought they could send you from Azureocean Castle,” Leon murmured, gently cradling Leo’s head in herp before continuing, “and you really came.”


    Caron gave her a faint smile, then nodded. He asked, “I was toote, wasn''t I?”


    “No, you arrived just in time,” Leon answered.


    Caron settled down beside her, looking at Leo’s worn face. He muttered, “...This lunatic was really going to push his core into overdrive."


    If Caron had stopped him even a littleter, the damage could have been irreversible. Core overdrive was a knight’s most critical choice, often costing them their future. But, Caron didn’t really want to scold Leo.


    “He''s really grown so much,” Caron remarked.


    “He has, hasn’t he?” Leon replied softly.


    Leo''s mana had reached the peak of 5-Star, and his physical body had be sturdier over the past four years. Those were changes one expected with time. But what truly pleased Caron was Leo’s newfound maturity.


    “He knows how to sacrifice now,” Caron remarked.


    Leo had been ready to risk himself to protect Leon and the remaining vigers. The arrogant, self-centered young man Caron had first met was long gone. In his ce stood someone willing to sacrifice himself for others. It was a rare and invaluable kind of resolve. It was clear that Leo had learned a great deal over these past four years.


    "...Seems more like an adult than me," Caron said.


    Leon smiled softly and replied, "Leo has always been older than you."


    "Yeah, well, he should’ve acted like it sooner. But now... I guess I have to start treating him like an older brother," Caron said, chuckling.


    "He''s been working hard to be someone who could support you. Of course he''s grown," Leon said.


    "Is that so?" Caron nodded with a smile, then handed Leon a potion.


    Leon downed the potion in one gulp, then nced over to Ut, who was quietly tending to the remains of the vige from afar. She asked, “When did you make a new friend?”


    “It''s a long story,” Caron replied. “I just picked him up... No, I mean, I met him on the way.”


    “... Well, it''s not exactly easy to run into a giant, though,” Leon replied.


    “It''s actually a long story. I’ll exinter. Anyway, why were you and Leo here, fighting off these demonic monsters?” Caron asked.


    Leon exhaled slowly, her voice dropping as she replied, “We’ve traced the source of this disturbance. We were on our way to the Southern Great Forest.”


    “What led you there?” Caron asked.


    “As we moved closer to the forest, the number of monsters increased. Something there seems to be summoning them. We stopped here for a short rest... and that’s when they attacked,” Leon exined.


    Considering the shared vision spell ced on the Minotaur, it was likely they’d been targeted from the beginning. But Caron kept that suspicion to himself. No sense adding guilt to their already heavy hearts. With monsters prowling thesends, it had been a matter of time before the vigers faced such an attack.


    “Is there anything else I should know?” Caron asked.


    Leon frowned, thinking carefully before she answered, “On our way here, we passed through a few viges to gather supplies. But in every vige, we only found wreckage... and no bodies.”


    "How many viges?" Caron asked.


    “Seven, from what we checked,” Leon replied.


    “Not a single body?” Caron confirmed.


    Leon nodded gravely, then said, “Maybe the demonic monsters devoured them all.”


    Still, it was strange that there were no bodies, not even remains.


    <i>...No bodies left behind?</i> Caron thought, piecing it together in his mind.


    There was also the Minotaur he’d just defeated. Minotaurs weren’t ordinary monsters; they were elite creatures, often appointed to lead demon armies. Viges emptied of corpses, and the appearance of a Minotaur... It didn’t take him long to reach a grim conclusion.


    "Hah, that bastard," Caron muttered. He understood what the one behind this was nning.


    "...The Gate of Chaos," he suddenly said.


    It was the dreadful portal that summoned all things twisted and malevolent, a doorway to death itself. It would be a scourge upon thesends.


    Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Caron frowned deeply and said, “We need to pick up the pace."


    If they dyed any further, things could spiral into something far beyond their control.