Black magic is a form of magic banned by the first Emperor. The first Emperor was tormented relentlessly by Black Mages, and black magic itself was an inherently dangerous force.
According to the setting of <Diaros Academy>, where they borrow power through contracts with demons, it’s a technique that uses life force instead of magical energy.
At this point, whose life force it is doesn’t matter much. Noticing this, Black Mages began kidnapping powerless commoners to use as ingredients for their dark spells.
Not stopping there, once Black Mages reached a certain level, they would stick straws into the earth and greedily suck out its vitality.
Unable to watch the planet’s desolation any longer, the Emperor declared a purge of all Black Mages within the Empire, rounding them up without exception.
“The problem is… black magic isn’t something that can be eradicated so easily.”
Unlike the ivory tower of magic built over countless years of wise predecessors’ efforts, black magic is a power bestowed by demons.
Even if the very term and concept of black magic were erased, it means any clueless back-alley vagrant could suddenly become a Black Mage one day.
Thus, supernatural occurrences of black magic couldn’t be eradicated by human hands. At best, they could only be hidden from plain sight.
“What could he possibly be thinking… I can’t understand.”
The viscount muttered to himself as he gazed at the castle before him. Etalin Baron’s castle—the castle of the noble suspected of colluding with a Black Mage.
Indeed, it seemed the baron wasn’t even trying to hide his alliance with the Black Mage. With the castle walls tightly locked, waves of dark magic emanated from within.
Sensing this ominous aura, the viscount drew his sword and shouted:
“It will take three days for reinforcements sent by His Majesty the Emperor to arrive. And— if we give those Black Mage scum that much time, they’ll disappear again. We have only one option.”
To deliver a crushing blow to that accursed Black Mage.
As the viscount finished his speech, the family’s Sorcerers began chanting their spells.
Siege magic. Spells highly effective in destroying fortresses flew towards the castle walls, striking them with explosive force.
Following that, Kail felt something was off as he watched knights charge towards the walls with absurdly large siege weapons.
“Father, how many residents are in the Etalin territory?”
“It should be similar to our Meyer territory.”
“Then…”
The amount of dark magic emanating from that territory was unusually high.
Kail roughly estimated the life force extractable from a single person and realized that unless there were tens of thousands of sacrifices within the territory, such a massive amount of dark magic couldn’t be produced.
And soon after, he understood what wielding such an immense amount of dark magic signified.
A Black Mage who had reached a certain level could siphon life force not just from people, but from the land itself.
“Everyone, retreat!”
“Kail!?”
Hearing Kail’s shout, the startled viscount watched as the knights charging toward the castle walls turned back, confused by Kail’s command.
But by the time he yelled, it was already too late.
─BOOOOM-!
The corpses planted around the territory exploded. Dark Magic Corpse Explosion—a cruel spell using human bodies as bombs.
Knights who hadn’t prepared for this dark magic were caught in the blast, writhing on the ground in agony.
Watching the scene unfold, Kail clicked his tongue.
“All units, retreat! The opponent is a Master!”
At Kail’s words, the knights hesitated but began retreating. Storming a fortress occupied by a Master-level magician was nothing short of suicide.
Magicians grew stronger the more time they had to prepare, and within their own domain, they became overwhelmingly powerful.
If the Black Mage had turned the entire castle into his personal stronghold? They were already caught in his grasp.
“─Kail, can I leave this to you?”
“Yes, sure. Leave it to me.”
And—true Masters must be dealt with by another Master.
Kail recalled the barbarian tribes eyeing the northern Great Wall.
Compared to that colossal barrier, the walls of Etalin territory were laughably small and fragile.
“Spear.”
“Yes, uh, oh! Here it is!”
Taking a spear from a nearby soldier, Kail closed his eyes and infused it with Aura. Trembling under the excessive Aura, the spear eventually overflowed with energy—then Kail hurled it.
SWISH─!!
Propelled like a missile, the spear imbued with overwhelming Aura struck the castle wall, piercing through and burrowing deep inside.
Seeing this, Kail clicked his tongue as if realizing a mistake.
“I put too much power into that. Next.”
“Yes!”
“Keep bringing spears to throw.”
“Understood!”
Taking another spear from a soldier, Kail infused it with slightly less Aura this time and brought down the castle wall.
As the walls crumbled, the protective magical barrier defending the castle began to fade. Once the barrier disappeared, the bombardment from magicians and catapults started taking effect.
At this rate, given enough time, Etalin territory would be completely devastated.
“I’ll go ahead. Follow slowly.”
“Go ahead? Where exactly—”
Without answering the viscount’s question, Kail charged recklessly into Etalin territory. Dark magic traps beneath his feet activated, attempting to restrain him, but to no avail.
Leaping into the castle in one bound, Kail found undead awaiting him inside the walls and smirked.
“So that’s why there were no soldiers.”
They were already dead.
After dispatching the undead with ease, Kail began searching for a place where the Black Mage might be hiding.
Storming directly into the Black Mage’s stronghold was risky, but there was no choice. Dragging out the fight while not knowing what the Black Mage was doing was worse—
Just then, spotting the demon emerging from the distance, smashing through the lord’s residence, Kail smirked.
“There you are.”
Kail dashed towards the revealed demon.
* * *
“Guh… H-how dare you…!”
Etalin Baron slapped at the Black Mage gripping his throat, crying out in agony. Around him lay the corpses of his vassals and knights.
Unfazed by the resistance, the Black Mage continued draining the lord’s life force.
In this world, where individuals could possess superhuman strength, nobles with power were either formidable superhumans or held the potential to become one.
Absorbing the lord, who possessed an incomparably abundant life force and soul compared to ordinary humans, the Black Mage chuckled as he assessed the gathered energy.
“This should be enough.”
All the life force of the territory’s residents.
And the vitality of Etalin territory’s land.
It had taken ages to gather, but using it would take mere moments.
The Black Mage groaned as he felt the dark magic drain away like water from a bottomless jar.
“Come forth, my master…!”
The amassed dark magic began flowing down the lord’s residence. The entire territory glowed red, and the magical array drawn around the castle walls activated.
A gate connecting to the demon realm opened, and from within, a massive demon raised its head.
Its enormous body was visible even from outside the castle—crimson skin, two horns atop its head, and wings.
Daemon Daemon’s fragment.
─K, kuooooo-!!
The demon roared ferociously upon descending to the mortal plane.
* * *
“Oh, ohhh. Great Demon…!”
Ferduin, the Black Mage who had taken control of Etalin territory, burst into wild laughter at the sight of the summoned Daemon. Thousands of Etalin’s residents and years’ worth of the land’s vitality—all sacrificed to summon this apocalyptic force.
“I, Ferduin, have summoned you!”
Hearing faint whimpers beneath him, Daemon carefully reached out to lift the Black Mage who had summoned him.
Then, with a swift motion, he tossed Ferduin into his mouth. Crunching sounds filled the air as Ferduin laughed through the pain.
“Haha, hahahaha! Thank you, thank you for this hon—”
Crunch.
Gulp.
Having swallowed the Black Mage in one bite, Daemon rolled his eyes, still unsatisfied, and looked towards the humans standing beyond the castle walls.
There, plenty of food awaited.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Realizing something was atop his shoulder as he moved, Daemon rolled his eyes to see Kail standing there.
Holding a massive Aura Blade in one hand.
“You’re fighting me.”
