The Appearance Of A Formidable Foe

The massive horde of magical beasts drew closer to Vim and his companions. Now that they were within visible range, their numbers easily seemed to exceed two hundred.

“I petition the Spirits of Flame. Explode!”

《Inferno》

As Vim finished his incantation, four pillars of fire materialized.

“Blow them away!”

The raging pillars of fire, each standing several times taller than Vim’s own height, shot straight toward the stampeding beasts. The moment the flames collided with the monsters, they began swallowing them whole.

“Let’s go for one more.”

《Inferno》

The moment Vim spoke, a massive explosion erupted in the distance. A deafening blast that threatened to shatter eardrums tore through the air, accompanied by a fierce, scorching gale. The rushing wind whipped upward, lifting the bangs from Vim’s forehead.

“A-amazing…”

A wave of awe broke through the ranks of the knights waiting in the rear.

The Inferno Vim had just deployed was an Emperor-tier spell—the absolute highest echelon of magic. Across the entire world, the number of individuals capable of casting it could probably be counted on both hands.

“Look closely, men. That is the man known as Vim Abel,” Captain Camil announced to his subordinates. Among the knights accompanying them on this journey, many were witnessing Vim unleash his true power for the very first time.

A few minutes passed after Vim deployed his magic. By the time the roaring flames and explosive gusts finally settled, the entire horde of magical beasts had been completely annihilated.

“Is that all of them? That was surprisingly underwhelming,” Vim said, turning around only to find Camil, Hana, and Misa staring back at him with utterly dumbfounded expressions.

“To wipe out a horde of that scale in a mere ten minutes… At this rate, I can’t tell who is supposed to be protecting whom,” Camil said with a wry smile.

“Even so, isn’t it highly likely that something triggered such a massive swarm to head this way?” Misa pointed out.

“I completely agree. It’s explicitly strange.”

Even during his days as a court mage, Vim had never encountered a horde of this magnitude attacking out of nowhere. There had to be an underlying cause.

Vim closed his eyes and focused his mind, gradually expanding the effective range of his detection magic. After a brief moment, he snapped his eyes open.

“Sir Camil, I’ve found the cause of this incident. However, the situation is a little—or rather, extremely—problematic…”

“What is it?” Captain Camil held his breath.

“There’s a Fiend out there.”

“A… a Fiend?!”

Fiends were exceptional entities even among the demon race. It was said that a single one possessed enough catastrophic power to topple an entire nation by itself. One theory suggested that Fiends were originally human—exceptionally high-ranking mages who had somehow transformed—but for the most part, much about them remained shrouded in mystery.

“Are you serious?!” Misa cried out in shock.

“There’s no mistaking this signature.”

Vim’s detection magic was registering a mana source containing an overwhelming pool of magical energy, a scale completely impossible for any ordinary magical beast to possess.

“Is there any concrete basis that allows you to say that for certain?” Camil asked, pressing for answers.

“I’ve fought a Fiend once before.”