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Since Horatio had already used the book, he decided to go all the way. He used Daemon Hell Gate before following up with Demonic Contract.

The emerged daemon received a great boost from the Demonic Contract. The nearby defenders also received the same boost, allowing them to fight off the tide of demons. With this boost, they overpowered the demons that tried to make a jump on Horatio. The daemon with the flaming axe clashed with the daemon Horatio summoned. Even the demon commander who devised the trap was forced to retreat.

What they weren't aware of was Belphegor was looking in their direction from outside the defensive walls. He stood still while his mini clones and floating ice weapons dealt with Wrath's maids.

Jygorth and the Montu spider were forced to battle other demons. The defender's number had reduced to a point where they couldn't have many combatants fighting Belphegor. Only Wrath's maids were still on that task, and they were one person short.

Out of the seven maids, one died in the previous battle. The remaining six were infested with rage after losing one of their sisters. Their power received a boost. But at the same time, they learned they couldn't continue to fight with such recklessness. Belphegor was not an opponent they could win just from a boost. The worst thing was, the devil didn't even seem serious about fighting them yet.

Wrath's maids adopted a more reserved method. They now only aimed to keep Belphegor at bay. They no longer fought intending to defeat him.

Currently, they were wary because Belphegor had stood up. Something the devil rarely did except when he marched, and Belphegor only marched after the obstacles were gone.

Currently, they were wary because Belphegor had stood up. Something the devil rarely did except when he marched, and Belphegor only marched after the obstacles were gone.

He burped. His chest bulged. This bulging flowed upward to his neck.

Wrath's maids were already used to this scene. This was what happened when Belphegor created his mini clones. He always did that at the beginning of the battle.

As expected, a fleshy ball was vomited out. Belphegor's mouth enlarged unnaturally to allow the large size ball to exit. What was unexpected was Belphegor burping again after that. The same process repeated.

This continued until five fleshy balls were on the ground. These balls turned into mini-Belphegor. Now, there were nine of them in total. Each holding the ice weapons formed from Belphegor's nine icy orbs.

Wrath's maids looked at the nine with wariness. The enemies now outnumbered them. Another issue that took their attention was Belphegor's appearance. His large belly was completely gone. He looked like an oversized fat demon less than a minute ago. Now, he was as skinny as a starving person who hadn't eaten for a month.

One other detail the others didn't notice was his eyes. They were no longer glazed with the laziness he was associated with. They were lively.

All of a sudden, another transformation happened to his body. All the deflated muscles of his body suddenly bulged. He turned from a skinny devil a second ago into one with the muscular body of a world-ranked bodybuilder.

He made a wide grin before vanishing.

If not for the trails of ice he left behind, everyone would have thought he had used a teleporting skill. But in fact, he just moved extremely fast. He dashed in a straight line towards the defensive walls. The extreme contrast of his speed was so startling that Wrath's maids failed to react in time. Belphegor was already far away from them by the time they realized what was going on.

The ice trail created by his dash broke into clusters of icicles that stabbed outward and damaged everyone he passed. This ice trail didn't just form behind him. The icy energy rushed forward and formed an ice path ahead of him. The ice energy knocked everyone away from the path and created a slippery ground. Belphegor's feet stopped running. He glided along this ice path. His speed increased even more. No one was able to stop him.

His ice energy shot forward and hit the wall. The part that was hit was instantly frozen. Many defenders on the wall, who had low ice resistance, were also frozen.

"Hahaha!

" Belphegor laughed as he neared the wall. His charging speed didn't slow. His fist gave out a sinister silver glow. It also enlarged into unnatural proportions. His fist was now bigger than his head. He punched this oversized glowing fist into the frozen wall when he arrived.

*

Behind the defensive walls, Horatio and his guards were still fighting the demons who had breached through some of the gaps in the wall. More and more demons rushed to their side. The guards were having difficulties fighting all these demons despite the boost.

"What is happening here? Why do they attack this place with such frenzy?

" Happy Felix asked. He positioned himself near Diana and used his tower shield to protect her.

"Maybe they have finally decided to go after the emperor,

" William answered. They had rearranged their formation and returned to Horatio's side, bringing Diana along with them.

"Stand fast! We should be able to hold for one more day before making another retreat!

" Horatio exclaimed. They were running short of lines to retreat to. The battle would have to resume on Sangrod's soil if they retreated. He preferred them to last for as long as possible here.

The other nearby defenders saw the change in the demons' movements. They also went toward Horatio so that the emperor didn't get overwhelmed. The battle became densely packed on that side.

They were suddenly startled by the sound of a huge explosion. When they turned to the sound, they saw a new gap in the defensive wall. Belphegor stood there.

"What…?!

" Everyone fighting behind the walls was shocked. How did the devil get so close without any alarm? Did no one stop his approach?

The one most shocked was Horatio. This was because Belphegor's eyes were staring directly at him. He was unable to look away. The two eyes were like magnets. They shone an eerie blue glow as icy mists flowed out.

"Your Majesty!

" Darius called out in alarm.

His panic was because Horatio's body was covered by a thin layer of ice, and this ice was getting thicker by the second. Belphegor had used an eye skill, Infernal Freezing Gaze. This skill not only froze Horatio's body but also slowed his mind. In Horatio's vision, everything suddenly moved in fast motion while he could not move.

One of the nearby priests cast Cure on Horatio, but the spell was useless. Belphegor's eye skill was too powerful for Cure to nullify.

William cast Advanced Cure, a non-standard elite spell learnable by those who branched from the Healer class. His spell produced a better effect. Horatio's mind was cleared. He could think properly again, but the ice layer was still covering his body. It just stopped getting thicker. He could move again albeit very slow.

"Protect his majesty…!

" Darius shouted.

Everyone hurriedly crowded around Horatio while those near the crumbled wall rushed to engage Belphegor to stop him from advancing. Belphegor took a squatting stance as multiple ranged attacks headed toward him. He then jumped.

His jump brought him hundreds of meters into the air in the blink of an eye. Up there, he spread his arms. Rings of ice materialized on his two sides. These ice rings then shot downward. They were spinning like oversized chakrams. They didn't fly in a straight line. They flew in zig-zag patterns, which made their trajectories hard to follow.

The defenders cast defensive spells to block these ice chakrams, but the ice chakrams easily sliced through the spells and the casters.

Felix used Sentinel's Impenetrable Wall. His shield image was cut in half by an ice chakram. When the ice chakram hit his tower shield, he was thrown by the impact. He crashed into Diana behind him, and the two flew a distance away.

Horatio, who still had difficulty moving, suddenly found the people around him gone. They were either killed by the ice chakrams or were sent flying from the impact.

A loud crash was heard behind him as a huge shadow covered him. He looked back and saw Belphegor towering over him.

He was speechless. He knew the devil was terrifying, but seeing people battling the devil from far away was completely different from seeing one directly before him. The pressure he felt caused him difficulty in breathing.

"You have something not meant for you,

" Belphegor uttered.

Horatio didn't need to guess what the devil was referring to. His hand was still clutching the Book of the Damned tightly. Under the suffocating pressure, he couldn't think. He just acted. He drew power from the book and started to draw spell formation.

Before the spell formation was completed, Belphegor's hand shot down with incredible speed. All of a sudden, Horatio was already in Belphegor's grip. The devil's hand had turned into an ice claw without anyone noticing. Horatio, who was in the ice claw's clutch, was encased in an ice block in a matter of seconds.

Belphegor then squeezed. The ice block shattered. Pieces of ice encasing Horatio's body parts fell to the ground. The Book of the Damned dropped among these ice debris.