A mountain-sized black toad rose from the golden forest.
Its wrinkled, sticky skin was slowly pulled out of the black vortex, stretching long, sticky strands that clung together.
The enormous toad swayed across the ground, while one sharp, chewing mouth after another tore open around it.
Even the blue-black sky gradually gave way to greasy black clouds.
A deep and eerie pressure suddenly descended from above, leaving the nobles present deeply shaken.
But what disgusted them even more wasn't just the hideous creature before them.
The moment the monstrous demon appeared, a foul stench swept across the front of the banquet hall.
The smell was like rotten meat left to ferment mixed with animal waste. The nauseating odor rolled over everyone.
Just one breath was enough to make the nobles' stomachs churn and their faces turn pale.
Though they desperately tried to endure it, the intense discomfort kept rising in their minds.
After only a few breaths, several nobles could no longer suppress the nausea and vomited.
The foul smell burned his eyes, and the thick, evil air clouded the Crown Prince's mind.
Standing in the courtyard, he looked up at the Second Prince laughing wildly atop the toad, his eyes filled with blank confusion and deep shock.
Albany no longer recognized Owiser.
Or rather, he no longer recognized the Owiser before him.
Madness, distortion, savagery, greed...
Wave after wave of evil thoughts gathered around him until they completely swallowed him.
He had never imagined that one of his own family members would appear before him like this.
The people of the Empire weren't the only ones terrified.
Even the guests from the Elven Forest were frightened by the scene.
They had never witnessed anything like this.
The elves hugged one another, tears shining in their eyes like tiny pearls.
They huddled together, using the power of nature to block out the stench as they trembled in the corner of the courtyard.
Fortunately, their Elf Queen was still here.
That alone made them feel much safer.
The moment the demon emerged from the vortex, Cocotte had already become alert.
She sat atop a cloud with her arms folded and one leg crossed, carefully observing the Demon of Greed before her.
Although elves and demons had no real grudge against each other,
the endless malice pouring from the demon still made Cocotte uncomfortable.
Liya, who had been teleported farther away, rested one hand on her waist and shaded her eyes with the other.
Squinting, she stretched her neck slightly and looked up at the huge twisted body.
"This really is..."
'Way too familiar.'
'Wasn't this the same giant demon that had appeared in the royal capital six months ago and caused chaos at the Royal Academy?'
Half a year later, it had appeared in the capital again.
Frowning, Liya looked at the huge, foul-smelling demon with disgust. She wasn't frightened by its ugliness.
Instead, she was puzzled.
"But wasn't this thing... already dealt with by Viktor?"
She clearly remembered Viktor telling her that the demon had been completely eliminated and there was nothing left to worry about.
It had also been confirmed that the demon was connected to the Leyser family.
So what was going on now?
The Second Prince had brought this demon into the Empire's largest banquet hall and had even let it devour half the building.
Was he taking all the blame onto himself just to clear the Leyser family's name?
She understood the situation less and less.
Fortunately, there was no need for a weak woman like her to handle this.
She slowly lowered her head and looked toward Viktor standing at the very front.
The sky grew heavier and thicker.
The foul smell continued to grow stronger, almost like a dense fog.
The greasy malice pouring from the air fell like a torrential rain, making it hard to breathe.
Feeling the evil thoughts filling the surroundings, Viktor slowly raised his head and looked at the Second Prince standing atop the demon, twisted with madness.
His hands remained in his pockets.
His face was calm, and the Second Prince's figure was reflected in his deep eyes.
His voice carried a trace of mockery, "I find it hard to believe that you'd treasure and worship a toad that already failed once."
Hearing Viktor's voice, many nobles finally calmed down.
'That's right.'
Viktor had defeated this demon before.
Wasn't it just a defeated enemy?
The knights were encouraged by those words. Their fighting spirit returned, their eyes became clear again, and they raised their weapons once more.
They quickly moved to stand in front of the elves and nobles.
The nobles didn't really matter. If they died, then they died.
But the elves had to be protected.
The Second Prince slowly lowered his head.
The madness disappeared from his face, replaced by calmness.
A twisted light flashed in his eyes as he stared at Viktor and quietly asked, "...Failed?"
"Count Viktor, it seems you still haven't seen the truth."
The Second Prince closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the rotten, foul air.
Then he suddenly opened them wide again and shouted like a madman, "As long as desire still exists, demons can never fail."
At the same time, the giant demon began to swell.
Its pitch-black mouth opened wide.
Its skin twisted and deformed, and even its blood vessels became clearly visible.
Visible evil thoughts stretched outward like tentacles, wave after wave of chaos spreading into the outside world.
The foul chaos mixed with violent snowstorms, sweeping through the dark sky and rising tens of thousands of meters high.
Viktor remained expressionless as he quietly watched the chaotic snowstorm continue to swirl.
The elves huddled behind Viktor with their pupils shrinking.
They could clearly see those waves of energy rushing toward them.
The entire space filled with thick blackness, transforming into countless crazed demons crawling across the sky and the earth.
Yet those auras had no effect on them.
The elves could only stare blankly as the waves drifted past them.
With a twist of their bodies, the tiny demons scattered apart and became like air, flowing into the human nobles.
The Second Prince coldly said to Viktor, "Why don't you look for yourself at how ugly those people really are?"
Viktor gave no response.
Instead, the knights couldn't help looking behind them.
The nobles who had breathed in the evil aura were curled up on the ground in agony.
They clutched their chests tightly, their eyes filled with bloodshot veins.
Soon, the corners of their mouths stretched upward uncontrollably until they almost reached their ears.
Drool streamed from their mouths as they completely lost their sanity.
At that moment, the Second Prince took several bright golden Gio coins from his pocket and casually tossed them down.
Clink!
The gold coins hit the ground with crisp ringing sounds.
Every other sound disappeared from the nobles' ears.
Only the clear sound of the coins exploded like bombs beside them.
They all dropped onto all fours, completely losing the grace expected of nobles.
Like wild beasts, they crawled viciously toward the coins.
"Gio! Money!"
"That's mine! Mine!"
"None of you touch it!"
The nobles went completely mad, scrambling for the coins and even attacking one another.
Just a few gold coins that they could normally earn with ease threw them into complete chaos.
The scene deeply shook the knights.
It felt as though the wall supporting their hearts had collapsed.
Ever since childhood, they had been taught that a knight existed to protect the people and defend the nobles.
But seeing this now, they suddenly realized that those they had been protecting were nothing more than beasts driven by desire.
The swords in their hands had once been symbols of honor.
Now they felt unbearably heavy.
However, not everyone was affected by greed.
Looking around, the knights noticed that the elves showed no reaction to the gold coins.
There was also Miss Liya.
Besides the knights, she was the only unaffected human.
She was completely different from those nobles.
Though she was also a merchant, she wasn't fighting over a few gold coins like they were.
At that moment, a tall figure walked out from the ruins of the banquet hall.
Lightly clapping his hands, he smiled and said, "It only amplified their greed tenfold, yet they became this ugly."
Leopold opened his eyes.
Golden quicksand flowed rapidly beneath those noble and mysterious eyes.
Under his gaze, no noble corrupted by desire could hide.
Then he noticed Liya, who still stood unmoved among the crowd.
It was understandable that the elves weren't affected by greed.
After all, they lived apart from the world and naturally lacked those worldly desires.
The knights remaining calm was also expected.
Becoming a knight required unwavering faith and noble character.
Especially within the Imperial Royal Knights, where every member was selected through strict screening.
But Liya was only an ordinary human.
Yet she was immune to greed's corruption.
That surprised Leopold.
Was it because she didn't like money?
Or was there something even more important than money that could awaken her greed?
Only Liya herself knew the answer.
Standing among the crowd, she looked at the nobles fighting over the coins with a trace of disdain.
Did she dislike money?
Of course not.
It was just that, compared to these few coins...
She thought about it for a moment.
If she rushed over like those nobles and embarrassed herself in front of all these people and the elves, it would be utterly humiliating.
Gwen, Cocotte, and Viktor were all watching.
She absolutely didn't want to make a fool of herself.
In the end, her dignity and self-respect overcame the desire that had been magnified many times over.
And honestly, the reason she started making money in the first place had always been Viktor.
Viktor wasn't short of money anymore.
There was no reason for her to disgrace the Clevenna family over a few gold coins.
Just then, Liya felt someone's gaze leave her.
She looked up toward where it had come from.
Leopold's golden eyes had already casually shifted away from her.
Turning his head, Leopold looked at Viktor.
"Do you understand now? Just a few gold coins are enough to make them beat each other bloody."
"If they were ever given a real opportunity, they'd be even crazier than I am..."
"Finished talking?"
The elegant smile on Leopold's face stiffened slightly.
Viktor lowered his head.
His gaze shifted away from the demon and settled on Leopold.
BOOM!
Shockwaves burst through the air, roaring as they tore apart the heavy, greasy space.
Several giant azure magic circles appeared, linked together like gears as they rotated against one another.
Brilliant blue light poured out from behind Viktor.
Countless glowing patterns became living serpents that raced around the magic circles.
They tightly locked countless floating runes into the edges of the formation.
"If you're done talking, get lost."
"If you get caught in the blast, that's not my responsibility."