The sky-filling red, like an upside-down ocean, completely covered everything.
The overflowing anger seemed to surround the demon before their eyes, and the sense of fear spread across the entire ice field.
A massive figure loomed over the snowy plains, bright-red fragments hitting people's faces like countless sharp spikes stabbing into their skin.
It made even the tough-bodied barbarians feel an even clearer pain.
Leighton's scarlet body squeezed out with difficulty from beneath that sky, and he stomped hard onto the glacier, shattering the ice surface into powder.
"Ha!"
A tremendous roar spread for hundreds of miles as that bloody maw opened wide, as if in the next second, it would swallow the blood-red moon hanging in the sky.
The pitch-black claws extending from its limbs tore the frozen sea apart, digging deep into the shriveled scarlet earth.
The demon kept absorbing the red aura in the air, tens of thousands of strands turning into a scarlet-black vortex swirling endlessly in the gloomy sky.
Demons feed on living beings' emotions and desires to provide themselves with an endless source of energy for growth.
If the emotions were full enough, they could even evolve into cruel rage beasts that swallowed worlds whole.
Along the way, Leighton had been devouring the countless anger created between the Pale Mage council and the barbarians.
Plus, during the academy exam before this, the emotions of tens of thousands of students had all been eaten by Leighton as well.
At this moment, it was even stronger than Yem from before.
[Lv50]
Compared to those two giants who were both level forty-five, this was simply a complete steamroll for Leighton.
Not to mention, their level of existence couldn't compare to a demon at all.
Strictly speaking, those flame and ice giants were not the two true demigods.
Even the demigods spoken of in the legends of the far north had lifespans that bound and limited them.
The real Laevateinn and Skadi had long been asleep under this snow-buried far-northern land for who knew how many years.
Although there did exist some obscure summoning methods, these barbarians were incapable of waking the true demigod giants.
They were merely descendants left behind by those demigod giants in the far north.
Giants who inherited not even a trace of divine power.
At this moment, whether it was the Pale Mage council or the barbarians from the two remaining tribes, the moment the massive demon appeared, they completely lost control of their emotions.
The scarlet crocodile that kept devouring emotions and growing suddenly sensed that half its source of emotions had vanished, and instantly became extremely displeased.
Even the corresponding fear had already been forgotten, how could they produce anger?
And those barbarians who were born brainless lacked anything beyond fear, let alone thought.
After all, they didn't even know what a demon was.
Only the knowledgeable mages looked at the incomparably terrifying giant figure before them with pale and heavy expressions.
"Demon…?"
Vladimir held a cigar in his mouth, narrowing his eyes coldly as he stared at the enormous creature standing above the frozen sea.
The heavy snow turned into swirling scarlet iron dust across the sky; under the storm, the cigar in his mouth had long been blown out and snapped, and the white fur cloak on his body thrashed wildly under the tearing wind.
The people of the Pale Mage council were already deathly pale. Their eyes were wide open, lips trembling uncontrollably, unable to restrain the fear overflowing from their bodies.
Erica also stared wide-eyed at the enormous demon in front of her, her brow twitching nonstop, as if painful memories flashed through her mind.
'Why?'
'Why would a demon appear here?'
This question naturally wasn't something only Erica thought of.
Gwen's expression was equally heavy, the raging iron dust swirling endlessly around her armor.
Whenever the scarlet flakes were about to touch her, they would consciously avoid her.
No, to be precise, avoid Viktor.
She admitted she was a knight.
But that didn't mean she was brainless like those berserkers.
In a blink, Gwen had already connected this to the demon battle in the capital.
Why was there such a coincidence?
Demons, creatures that were rarely seen even once in a hundred years, had appeared twice in just a few short months?
And every time, Viktor was present.
She felt a slight chill run through her body. Clearly, she was leaning right against Viktor's chest, yet the moment she thought that the demon from that event might be related to Viktor,
The moment she remembered that cruel demon and the warriors who died bravely…
She couldn't help but link the demon from that incident with Viktor.
The barbarians' previous arrogance had long evaporated, replaced with overwhelming fear.
Faced with an almost unbeatable existence, they wanted only to flee.
But whenever they tried to run, the moment their body moved even slightly, the sky-filling iron dust would pierce through their strong bodies.
Their flesh turned to powder, bursting into a red mist that slowly dispersed.
The white snowfield did not darken under the blood-red moonlight; instead, the blood dyed the earth red until it became pitch black.
Seeing this scene, even the relatively frail mages didn't dare to move, afraid they'd be instantly vaporized under the demon's indiscriminate attacks.
At this moment, Gwen felt her limbs freeze, the cold so intense she couldn't even think.
She really wanted to believe this had nothing to do with Viktor, but the massive demon before her kept reminding her again and again, 'Viktor, just what are you doing?'
"Listen to me."
Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind her, carrying reassurance and steadiness as it entered her ears.
"You just need to trust me."
"…"
Gwen turned her head slightly, wanting to look at Viktor's face, to see his expression.
But Viktor remained as cold as ever, his gaze fixed on the sky, on the battlefield that had formed between the demon and the giants.
Gwen stayed silent.
At this moment, how she wished her sense of justice would return to her body.
Then she could judge Viktor with absolute fairness.
And not like now…
Where simply hearing his voice made her subconsciously want to trust him.
The erupting scarlet iron dust shredded every fleeing barbarian into pieces.
Under the blood moon, the red deepened even further.
On the horizon, it looked like a dark cloud was constantly sinking, falling toward the earth.
Even though the demon's shadow covered everyone, and even though there were mages mingled among the barbarians, those mages were completely unharmed.
As if intentionally avoiding them, the iron dust seemed conscious, able to distinguish humans from barbarians on its own.
That terrifying dust only affected barbarians.
Under the swirling iron snow, their bodies were like thin paper.
The Pale Mage council was completely dumbfounded.
They watched the barbarians around them get shredded into blood mist one after another, their flesh turning to powder and sinking into the snow.
A ridiculous thought sprouted in their hearts.
This demon… seems like… it isn't targeting them at all?
Could the demon… be helping them?
Impossible.
And yet, nothing before their eyes was fake.
Countless barbarians fled across the snowy field, accompanied by despair and sky-shaking screams.
They even used their own people as shields, but in just the blink of an eye, both bodies would disappear into nothingness.
Very soon, even the last barbarian turned into dust and exploded into red smoke.
On the snowfield, piles of flesh-powder had stacked up high.
The entire frozen sea had been dyed completely red with blood, lingering without fading.
In this war, the Claw of Frost and the Sword of Flame had brought who knew how many elite forces.
Their numbers had even reached the tens of thousands.
Yet in one single night, all were buried in the far north, on this northern ice field.
This was a one-sided massacre.
The mages looked at the blood-soaked scene before them. Only when the bloody smell entered their noses and mouths did they finally react.
The battle was over.
But they did not feel relieved.
Because… this was only the beginning.
Sensing a terrifying enemy, the two giants lifted their heads and faced the towering demon together.
Leighton looked at the two giants, each half his size, and immediately burst into laughter.
The chaotic sound gathering from all directions toward the demon rumbled in everyone's ears.
The earth-shaking laughter carried disdain and amusement.
As if completely enraged, the two giants swung their blades and claws, launching swift attacks at the sky-piercing Leighton.
Their footsteps thundered across the snowy plains, shaking up waves of snow hundreds of meters high.
The blood-soaked snowflakes seemed to freeze midair, then trembled like a crashing tide.
The flame giant swung the massive sword in his hands with a whooshing roar. In the blood-red world, it was like the only bright color.
Flames instantly wrapped around the sword, and fire a hundred meters tall shot upward, piercing the dark clouds and slashing toward the demon like a falling meteor.
The ice giant's limbs were covered with frost, its giant icy claws instantly tearing through the sea of blood beneath its feet as it slashed at Leighton.
Caught between two attacks, Leighton stayed calm. His black claws grabbed the incoming flames.
With his other hand, he picked up the ice giant like a chick, shaking it repeatedly in his grasp. The frost couldn't even pierce the skin of his scarlet body.
Scarlet light gleamed in Leighton's eyes as he coldly stared at the two overestimating-themselves "giants."
"Wanna play a game?"
"The kind where you punch me once, and I punch you once."
The two giants naturally couldn't understand the demon's language. They kept swinging their claws and swords, but couldn't break free from Leighton's grip.
Suddenly, Leighton roared, clenching his black claws into a fist, and punched the ice giant, which he had tossed into the air, sending it flying.
The huge body shot away, breaking through the iron dust swirling in the air, crashing hard into the snow-covered mountain range.
The other giant was even more pitiful, it was held in the demon's hand and rubbed violently across the snowfield like a rag, smashed again and again into the boulders.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The flame giant lay half-dead under the terrifying impact.
After the tremors faded, the entire ice field fell into long silence.
The demon's chaotic voice rose like it was coming up from beneath the frozen sea, extremely heavy.
"That's it?"
"I thought you guys were so fierce."