Hiding inside the estate, Bena still believed he hadn't been exposed. He didn't know that William had simply been watching, waiting—not because he couldn't act, but to see if Bena would call for help. It was the perfect chance to locate and flush out other high-level demons hiding on Earth.
At the same time, William was baiting Bena's underlings, luring all the demons he'd gathered into the estate—intending to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
Sure enough, as more and more lesser demons and wraiths were cut down, shadowy figures began rushing toward the estate from outside. Through the holy light runes in his eyes, William could see clearly—they were all demons.
And this was Rome—barely ten kilometers from Vatican City. The fact that so many dark creatures could be hiding so close to the heart of Christianity said everything about how far the Europeans had fallen.
The more humans succumbed to corruption, the more powerful the demons became. And with that power came conflict and chaos in the human world.
As more reinforcements flooded in, the twenty stonewing beasts began struggling to keep up. William was starting to get annoyed. He reached for the Tianwen Sword and began channeling Holy Light into it.
Uru metal, known for its enchantability and massive magical capacity, truly lived up to its reputation. No matter how much Holy Light he infused, the sword drank it all in like a bottomless well.
When he had poured in about half of his magic reserves, William stopped to be safe. With a thought, clang!—the Tianwen Sword shot out of its sheath.
A radiant wave of Holy Light burst from the blade, and under William's control, the glowing sword floated through the estate like a miniature sun.
Every demon the light touched either disintegrated into ash and was expelled to Hell, or collapsed in agony, writhing on the ground as black smoke rose from their bodies.
Before the stronger demons could flee, the sword made a second pass—cleaving through their bodies, purifying them in a flash.
Circle after circle, the Tianwen Sword scoured the estate and then dove into the manor itself, piercing through walls and vaporizing the demons cowering inside.
Within minutes, a radius of several hundred meters around the estate was filled with flickering hellfire as demonic spirits were expelled back to the underworld by the will of the material realm.
Once no trace of demonic energy remained within his mental scan, the Tianwen Sword returned to William and slid back into its sheath.
Glancing toward a group of praying priests in the distance—who were now kneeling and visibly trembling—William turned to the stonewing beasts guarding him and asked, "Interested in joining me?"
One of them, larger than the rest and wielding a massive double-bladed axe, bowed his head and explained, "Forgive me, Honored Grand Magus of the Light.
Though we would be honored to serve you, we are unlike the others. At the time of our binding, we were fused directly with St. Peter's Basilica. Our range of movement is limited, and we cannot leave the church grounds."
"That's a pity," William said casually, though inwardly he wasn't that disappointed. Then, with a glint in his eye, he smiled and asked, "Now there's only one demon prince left. But I don't just want to banish him. Do you know how to truly destroy one?"
As he spoke, William waved toward the demon prince Bena—whose arms had been severed by the Tianwen Sword.
Ropes of enchanted energy wrapped around him like iron chains, lifting him out of the ruined manor and suspending him upright in the garden like a grotesque statue.
The sight of the two-meter-tall demon being treated like a toy made the stonewing beasts regard William with even greater reverence.
They exchanged glances, their eyes flashing with unspoken understanding. After a moment of silent communication, they responded, "Forgive us, Lord. In the mortal world, it is nearly impossible to truly kill a demon. In all our centuries of war, we've only ever managed to banish them."
"That's not good enough," William muttered. "Bena is Mephisto's offspring. If I banish him, that old devil will just devour him. I don't want to hand Mephisto a free power-up."
"Me... Mephisto?"
Hearing the name, the stonewing beasts visibly trembled. The most infamous and widely feared of all demon kings, Mephisto's legend was more pervasive than all the others combined.
Now that they realized William didn't even want Mephisto's power to grow, they were even more shocked by his courage—and his strength.
Still, they began racking their brains for a solution.
"If nothing else, we could imprison him. Wait for a better idea."
At that, William finally revealed his true aim.
"Do any of you know how to seal a demon inside a statue or a holy relic?"
"A method to trap a demon?"
The stonewing beasts fell into deep thought. They weren't fools—they were ancient spirits, some centuries or even millennia old.
The moment William mentioned statue, they knew he was hinting at something.
But however clever they might be, the stonewing beasts were a forgotten force—abandoned by Heaven, cut off from any response or support.
Each battle meant losing comrades who returned to the Tenth Heaven. Their unit stationed at St. Peter's Basilica was one of the lucky ones. Though bound to the church, they didn't fight often, and the Vatican's history had preserved some sacred energy.
Enough, at least, for occasional healing when wounded.
Other units weren't so fortunate. Many had gone extinct or were reduced to single digits.
Only one other full-strength unit remained: the one hidden beneath the Newman Cathedral in London.
But hearing William's clear London accent, and realizing he knew nothing of the Newman Cathedral, the stonewing beasts relaxed. They didn't see him as a threat—instead, they were thrilled to be the first to meet the most powerful Holy Light Magus in centuries.
In this age of dwindling light, the sudden emergence of a Grand Magus was like salvation.
Without hesitation, their leader shared everything he knew with William.
Though they lacked the key technique of Holy Light infusion, that wasn't a problem for William. He wasn't even happy with the stonewing beasts' performance in battle—if he could master their binding ritual, he could create his own ironwing beasts with alloyed materials and better offensive capabilities.
Without another word, William pulled a massive pile of gold from his storage space.
Under his control, it melted into a molten pool and flowed over Bena's struggling form.
As the demon prince screamed in pain and terror, William carved runes of binding and spirit fusion into the molten gold—enchanting it with the essence of a fallen spirit.
The moment the array was completed and mana surged through it, the enchanted gold began merging with Bena's demonic soul.
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