The sky over the capital fell into darkness, like an inverted abyss.

"What... what's happening!?"

The crowd watched as the ever-spreading ink gradually covered the sky, devouring their hope.

Some mages in the academy tried to release sparks from their hands to illuminate the surroundings, but no matter how hard they tried, not even a single spark appeared.

"This is bad! Magic disruption!"

A mage suddenly cried out.

An even more terrifying, intense negative feeling surged towards the mages.

Those mages who could stand before now stumbled one by one.

They fell in succession, and Gwen's heart gradually filled with unease.

Her intuition told her that perhaps it wasn't just the academy facing a crisis.

The entire capital might be plunging into danger.

"Look! What's that!"

Several students pointed at the mountain behind the academy, crying out in alarm. A wave of fear spread through the crowd.

The gradually transparent barrier now allowed them to see the outside world,

But the scene that met their eyes was unforgettable.

The demon's form began to expand rapidly, devouring everything it touched.

The mountain behind the academy, unable to withstand the intense pressure, began to collapse gradually. However, the rocks didn't fall; instead, they were entwined by the demon's tongues and sent into its bottomless mouth.

Even the sky was bitten off in chunks, shattering like glass, revealing nothingness with a whooshing sound.

"Is that... is that a demon?"

"The demon that saved Professor Devin?"

Panicked voices spread throughout the academy.

Even the outside world witnessed this chaotic disaster.

The royal family finally took this catastrophe seriously for the first time. The army was mobilized, and a large number of mages rode in carriages, racing towards the academy to provide support.

In an instant, screams, the sound of carriages, and the cracking of the mountain filled the entire capital.

...

Kevla was thrown like a kite with its string cut, breaking several thick giant trees before falling silent.

The demon looked at the fallen demon hunter and its own continuously growing body, cackling:

"Thanks to you, little girl."

"Although it's still not quite enough, I can't be too greedy."

The "little girl" the demon referred to was, of course, Henie.

It had never imagined that an ordinary person it randomly found would have such a rich reserve of magical knowledge.

This was an enormous gift for the demon.

Under its manipulation, Henie borrowed vast power from it.

And in the human academy, she set up a magic absorption array that even it couldn't have imagined.

A complex array composed of countless different formations, even a fourth-tier mage would need a lot of time to analyze it.

Henie used this array to absorb enough magic power to fulfill her desired revenge.

However, all of this ended up benefiting the demon.

As long as the array didn't dissipate, those mages would continue to serve as its magic source, allowing it to grow stronger continuously.

At this moment, the demon didn't even want to eat Henie anymore.

The knowledge in Henie's mind made the demon crave knowledge for the first time.

Demons generally don't easily kill their deal-makers, especially excellent ones like Henie.

At this time, its body occasionally emitted faint light.

That was the countless mages in the academy continuously having their magic absorbed, constantly providing it with magical replenishment.

The magic power within it was constantly replenishing.

It was more than ten times what it had given to Henie.

In a sense, Henie had already repaid all her debts, and it no longer needed to taste her.

Suddenly, a bright white light flashed, and Kevla emerged unscathed, holding her silver blades in reverse grip, charging towards the demon.

Demon hunters gain bonuses when facing demons, but correspondingly lose some of their rationality.

But when dealing with demons, fighting on instinct is clearly more advantageous.

The giant mouth on the demon's body was instantly torn open, and countless black tentacles gushed out from between the sharp teeth.

It impatiently swung out a palm, swatting Kevla hundreds of meters away.

However, she remained unyielding, charging back again and again, each time managing to inflict some damage with the special metal weapons in her hands.

Although the damage wasn't high, it was extremely insulting.

The demon gradually began to get irritated. Even though the opponent was so weak, she was like a fly buzzing around its face, impossible to swat away.

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At this moment, a faint glow of magic suddenly lit up.

A purple array gradually formed between Erica's hands, every line and every rune perfectly inscribed.

She clasped her hands together, and the space around the demon instantly tore apart. Cloud-like formations appeared out of thin air, like stars, from which dozens of purple chains burst forth, piercing into the demon's body.

[Second-tier Magic: Nebula Lock]

"It worked!"

Erica was both surprised and delighted. Fortunately, she had learned this magic from Viktor before. She never expected that her first use of it would be against such a formidable enemy as a demon.

The demon immediately felt its internal magic power being somewhat obstructed, and couldn't help but turn its attention to those chains breaking its magic channels.

"Hmm, annoying mage."

It violently broke free, and the surrounding mountain shook with its movement, dropping massive boulders one after another.

Before long, the chains shattered instantly.

But being able to restrain it for a while was already enough.

In this brief time, Erica had drawn several small arrays.

These arrays, without exception, were all adding magical enhancements to Kevla.

"Speed, attack, resistance, tenacity... add them all!"

Erica rapidly formed arrays, chanting continuously.

She had thoroughly studied these spells, and Viktor had even given her many suggestions for improvement.

Erica used these small enhancements with complete ease.

With enough buffs added, Kevla's movements became even swiffer.

She seized the moment when the demon was breaking the chains. In the blink of an eye, a white light flashed, passing through countless tentacles and sharp teeth, chopping down hard on the demon's neck.

The demon threw back its head in extreme pain. The special silver blade inflicted no ordinary wound; it felt its internal magic power continuously flowing out.

It began to struggle frantically, countless tentacles starting to fall from its body.

Professor Devin, lying on the ground, looked up at the terrifying scene before him. He couldn't help but tremble all over, wriggling his body and using all his strength to roll away, barely avoiding being hit by these falling tentacles.

The demon became irritated. The sharp teeth on its body gradually retracted, and countless tentacles also calmed down.

Only the head with a giant mouth began to fiercely devour its own enormous body, blood and stench gushing out all at once.

The foul smell corroded half of the surrounding forest. Erica also felt a piercing pain on her skin.

She hurriedly lay down on the ground, avoiding the evil qi floating in the air.

The more it devoured, the more exaggerated the demon's head swelled. When it had completely swallowed its body, the head, dripping with mucus and blood, seemed about to burst open at any moment.

In the end, all that was left was an unstable, swaying head, spewing out ink that covered the sky.

Drop by drop, it fell to the ground, raising countless tentacles, like towering pillars reaching to the sky.

With one strike, a hundred-meter-high ink tidal wave engulfed everything.

Erica was swept away by the ink, crashing heavily against the remnant rocks. One of her arms was pierced by a sharp stone, pain spreading throughout her body.

Kevla was submerged under the ink, struggling constantly, but sinking deeper and deeper.

The demon opened its terrifying giant mouth, its tentacles wrapping around Kevla, about to send her into its mouth.

Suddenly, Kevla smiled strangely.

She flicked her fingers, and the silver blades under the ink thrust upwards towards the sky, directly hitting the demon's enormous head.

The demon cried out in pain. Kevla seized this opportunity to break free from the demon's restraint, flipping over several silver daggers following her movement and stabbing into the demon's head.

The demon winced in pain, and Kevla took advantage of the moment to escape its grasp.

"Die, demon!"

The daggers stuck in the demon's head lit up with a searing white light one by one, a series of metallic hums resonating through the sky.

The daggers exploded on the demon's body one after another like bombs.

Layer upon layer of visible ripples spread outward.

The demon howled in agony, its head exploding with a boom, turning into a cloud of extremely dense black mist.

The intense energy pulverized the remaining trees in the surroundings, dust obscuring the sky.

Kevla's body went limp, falling back to the ground, gasping heavily.

"We won..."

Suddenly, a voice seemingly from the abyss came from the sky, making Kevlar shudder.

"Had enough fun?"

She looked up, and the endless black mist regathered, forming a dirty, disgusting head.

It opened one eye, like a light bulb, staring at her, filled with greed and madness.

Kevla stared at the scene before her, her eyes full of disbelief.

The hundred-meter-long tongue on the head shot out from the ink on the ground, sweeping across and sending her and Erica flying hundreds of meters away.

This terrifying strike made both of their bodies feel loose, experiencing extreme pain.

The demon's tongue slowly approached the two.

But suddenly, a terrible feeling of weakness came from within, making the demon freeze momentarily.

The magic power inside its body was draining!?

"No, what's happening? This isn't right!"

The demon concentrated, trying to absorb magic from the academy.

But no matter how much it absorbed, not a bit of magic power entered its body.

There was only a continuous loss of magic power.

It turned its head, looking back towards the academy.

At some point, the black barrier above the academy had begun to dissipate, becoming transparent.

Someone had broken the array!

But this shouldn't be possible.

Even if it was broken, there shouldn't be such a severe magical backlash.

The demon's limited brain wasn't enough to consider more. It lowered its head, its gaze sweeping over Erica and Kevlar.

It no longer had time to savor these two humans.

In its fury, it vented everything on the two of them. It violently lashed out with its tongue, the enormous, terrifying force completely flinging the two away until they disappeared into the sky, completely out of sight.

Having instantly dealt with these troublesome insects, it dragged its body, step by step, slowly walking towards the academy.

It wanted to use the entire academy as a base, to summon a demon gate here, letting its offspring completely occupy this place.

To transform this place into an empire belonging solely to it.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, it lowered its head, sensing a life force from below.

It was Professor Devin, trying to curl up his body, trembling in fear.

So, the demon grinned, laughing maniacally.

"Hahahahaha! So you're not dead yet, you fool."

"Are you that little girl's enemy?"

The demon didn't know what exactly was going on in Henie's head, but for now, it could spare this guy's life, leaving him for Henie to deal with.

Consider it a thank-you gift to Henie for the infinite knowledge she provided.

So, its tongue wrapped around the trembling Devin, and like a missile, it leaped towards the academy.

...

Meanwhile, all the mages within the barrier looked relieved.

"Yes! Right there."

Under Vega's guidance, Viktor inserted the final magic rune.

Soon, the array began to dissipate.

Countless mages felt their magic power flowing back, extremely excited and unable to contain themselves.

Viktor also felt somewhat emotional.

Henie, she was truly kind.

After breaking this array, he noticed a reversal array left by Henie.

Once someone successfully broke the array, there would be a magic reflux effect.

The absorbed magic power would start flowing back at the same speed, returning from the caster's body.

Henie seemed to have anticipated that the demon would use her knowledge to gain more power.

So, she had left a vulnerability in the array in advance.

If the demon truly became uncontrollable as she had thought, breaking the array would become the mages' only chance to turn the tables.

This was the last piece Henie had left on the board, the final killing move of someone with knowledge but no magical talent.

While everyone was rejoicing at the gradual return of their magic power,

They were complimenting and thanking Viktor.

But they didn't notice a black shadow suddenly gathering from all directions.

The academy's stone slabs began to crack, and numerous buildings were also devoured, teetering on the brink of collapse.

Several mage towers also began to sway unsteadily under the demon's convergence, exploding with a boom.

The towering teaching building, as fragile as mud, collapsed with a thunderous crash.

In just a dozen seconds, the academy underwent a drastic change.

The once glorious academy instantly became dilapidated.

Countless people couldn't help but look up at the giant-like figure.

"D-Demon!!!"

It seemed to bring endless terror, a dark cloud over everyone's heads.

It extended its long tongue and tossed Professor Devin onto the ground, like discarding an innocent dead dog.

At this point, countless people fell into complete terror.

This horrifying aura, along with the terrifying presence that had just disappeared on the mountaintop.

Everything indicated one thing.

The demon had come to the academy.

The greedy demon drooled filthily, seeming ready to swallow everything in the academy.

At this moment, a huge cyan magic array once again rose from the ground, bathing everyone in its light.

[Third-tier Magic: Realm of Mana]

Effect: Greatly restores mana and significantly increases magic damage within the area.

Viktor's calm voice sounded nearby:

"Well then, it's time for a team fight."