“The Great Demon King has commanded the prisoners to be released!” Nibraksas shouted.

“Release the prisoners!”

“The king has given the command! Let them out!”

“Come out, you lot!”

At Siegfried’s single command, the mages imprisoned on the forty-ninth floor were freed by the demons.

“W-What’s going on?”

“Has a rebellion broken out?”

“The Great Demon King...?”

“Are we... prisoners of the demons now...?”

The prisoners, that is, the mages, tilted their heads in confusion, unable to make sense of the situation.

Their confusion and bewilderment were understandable, as they had long lost any hope of being set free after being imprisoned for so long.

“Line up!”

“This is a prison break! Line up properly!”

“Move slowly!”

“Be ready to fight if you have to!”

The demons escorted the mages in an orderly fashion in order to ensure that they could escape smoothly.

‘I didn’t expect to meet my underlings here of all places,’ Siegfried thought.

He was very pleased to unexpectedly meet his demonic minions here. They had been the ones guarding the prisoners, so breaking the mages out from prison went far smoother than he had expected.

One of the biggest concerns he had was how to get so many mages out safely.

Although the Proatine Force was waiting near the tower, taking them out was no easy task, as there were thousands of them imprisoned.

With the help of his underlings, his worries had vanished.

“Oh, right!”

Siegfried suddenly remembered the main reason he had come to rescue the prisoners and immediately set off to find the former master of the tower.

If some of the mages died during the escape, then it couldn’t be helped.

After all, Siegfried was no god, and he couldn’t protect everyone.

Unless he attained the power of invincibility, saving everyone was difficult. Thus, he decided to let his underlings handle the escape while he personally escorted Daode Tianzun’s disciple.

“Laimian! Laimian! Where are you? Answer me!” Siegfried called out.

He ran around calling out the name of the previous master of the tower and Daode Tianzun’s disciple.

At that moment, a mage pointed in a direction.

“Laimian is over there.”

“Oh? Thank you!” Siegfried replied and rushed toward it.

There, he found Daode Tianzun’s disciple, Laimian van Laurent.

“Who are you? Why are the demons obeying you? And why are you helping us escape?”

It turned out that Laimian van Laurent was a silver-haired beauty.

Siegfried bowed courteously and replied, “Greetings. My name is Siegfried von Proa.”

“Von? Are you of royal blood? But I’ve never heard of a royal house with such a name.”

It was only natural that Laimian would be unfamiliar with Siegfried, as she had fallen from her position and was imprisoned before Siegfried’s meteoric rise.

Thus, she had no knowledge of worldly affairs or the many incidents that had occurred since she had been imprisoned.

“This is not the time or place to explain things in detail. We must hurry,” Siegfried urged.

“Why should I follow you when I don’t even know who you are?” Laimian asked, her voice laced with suspicion.

“I am a disciple of Daode Tianzun.”

“Master had... a large number of disciples.”

Laimian was right. Daode Tianzun had always been generous with his teachings, and he was always willing to share his knowledge with those who wanted to learn.

After retiring from the world of magic, he even went to remote villages to teach children magic. Teaching was his passion, and he had hundreds of disciples, so it was only natural for Laimian to be wary of Siegfried.

“You have to trust me for now,” Siegfried said firmly. Then, he added, “We should focus on getting you out of here first. Once you are out, it is up to you whether you trust me or not.”

“Hmm...”

“I will free all of those imprisoned here. Then, I will topple the Magic Tower.”

“Hm? Topple the Magic Tower?”

“Yes.”

“That’s impossible. The Magic Tower can’t be toppled no matter what you do—”

“I have my way. But we do not have time now. We must hurry.”

“I can’t let you topple this tower. The magic tomes in the Great Library alone contain the very essence of magic researched over thousands of years. Losing those tomes would be catastrophic to magic and—”

“Do not worry about that. We will bring those out, too.”

“...?”

“For now, let’s go.”

Siegfried grabbed Laimian and pulled her along.

***

Under Siegfried’s command, the demons indiscriminately slaughtered the magic swordsmen and mages blocking their path. Even though they were in the Middle Realm, they displayed just how overwhelmingly powerful they truly were.

This was only natural and was nothing to be surprised about, as the demons were a race overwhelmingly stronger than humans by nature.

Their stats alone were as powerful as the Coral Race, and the higher-ranking demons were even stronger than the Corals.

While they were usually bound with numerous restrictions that prevented them from using their full power whenever they descended into the Middle Realm in their true forms, the demons working in the Magic Tower were special, as they had entered into formal contracts with mages.

They were able to exert one hundred percent of their original strength, meaning that the magic swordsmen and mages were nothing more than prey facing off against apex predators.

“Where is the Great Library?” Siegfried asked.

“It is on the eighty-eighty floor,” Laimian replied.

“Okay. Let us hurry there.”

“The way is—”

“I know the way.”

“But knowing the way alone is not enough. Only one key is capable of opening the doors of the Great Library, and it is in the possession of Eososios, the current master of the tower.”

“We can just catch him, kill him, and take the key.”

“That is far too reckless, Siegfried von Proa. Eososios is a powerful mage who has mastered various dark magics and is a warlock. Moreover, he has contracted a powerful demon—”

‘Huh?’

Laimian stopped mid-sentence after realizing something.

While Eososios had not reached the rank of Great Wizard after failing to break through the wall, he was still an outstanding mage. In other words, he was a formidable opponent, and the powerful demon contracted to him would bolster his lacking physical abilities.

However, Laimian could sense that the person who rescued her, Siegfried von Proa, was far more powerful than Eososios.

“Oh? So he has a contracted demon with him? That makes it all the better then,” Siegfried said with a grin.

“H-Huh? Hold on, are you really... the Demon King?” Laimian asked in a trembling voice.

“Yes. They say I am the first Demon King of human origin. Well, I am not exactly an ordinary human. I am what they call an Adventurer, someone who came from another world.”

“An Adventurer...”

“Anyway, shall we deal with that Eososios guy first?”

Laimian couldn’t tell if Siegfried was telling the truth or if he was just bluffing. But for now, she had no choice but to believe and follow him.

Meanwhile, Siegfried looked up where Eososios was currently.

“Perfect. It looks like he is in the Great Library. Let us go straight there,” Siegfried said.

“Okay.”

Following the shortcut shown to him by Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance, Siegfried and Laimian arrived at the eighty-eighty floor without much hassle.

“I was wondering what the commotion was all about, but...”

The current master of the Magic Tower and the chairperson of the Magic Council, Eososios, appeared before them.

“Tsk, tsk... What business do you have to escape from imprisonment, Laimian? Are you perhaps trying to make one final desperate attempt at freedom?” Eososios sneered.

“How dare you! You have defiled the Magic Council and corrupted the mages, yet you have the audacity to wear such a vile smile?!” Laimian snarled in response.

“Hoho! Our alliance with the Marachioni Empire was a prudent decision. What good is political neutrality? We shall build an arcane empire, a utopia for mages!”

Eososios was not only corrupted but also ambitious. He seemed to be planning to use the Marchioni Empire to build a nation of mages and establish himself as king.

“Your filthy greed has corrupted—”

It was then.

Shwooooosh!

An intense surge of magical energy erupted from Eososios.

“Ugh!”

Laimian couldn’t withstand the burst of mana storm.

After having been imprisoned for so long, she was far from her optimal state, so the mana unleashed by Eososios was truly too much for her to bear.

“Kwahaha! I will kill you all!” Eososios cackled maniacally. Then, he stretched his right palm forward and shouted, “Heed thy servant’s call, Lord Belial! Descend upon this world and punish these fools!”

Laimian had warned Siegfried that Eososios was contracted to a powerful demon. It turned out that the powerful demon was none other than the second-highest-ranking demon in all of the Demon Realm.

***

Woooong!

A dark magic circle appeared on the floor, and the silhouette of a terrifying demon emerged from it. Eososios was too weak to completely summon a Demon Lord, so he could only manage to summon an apparition of Belial.

Still, that was more than enough.

A Demon Lord was so powerful that even their apparition could easily defeat a Master, and even a Grandmaster couldn’t contend against them.

The fact that Eososios was capable of summoning Belial’s apparition automatically made him one of the top ten most powerful individuals on the continent.

“Kwahahaha! Lord Belial will tear you to pieces!” Eososios cackled maniacally.

However, Belial did not attack Siegfried nor Laimian after being summoned.

“Loyalty to the Great Demon King!”

Instead, the Demon Lord knelt on one knee and greeted Siegfried with utmost respect, clearly showing the hierarchy between them.

“W-What’s going on?!” Eososios shrieked, his mouth agape after seeing the Demon Lord kneel before Siegfried.

Then, he stammered and asked, “L-Lord Belial? A-Attack those scums! Kill them!”

“Silence, you fool! How dare you speak such nonsense?!” Belial roared, his voice thundering.

“L-Lord Belial...?”

“How dare an insignificant human like you blaspheme the Great Demon King!”

“What...?”

Eososios was at a loss, unable to make sense of what was happening.

In the meantime, Beliel threw himself to the floor and prostrated flat at Siegfried’s feet.

“Your Majesty! Please forgive this fool’s insolence!”

He hurriedly apologized, even though he did nothing wrong, just in case he became the subject of Siegfried’s wrath.

So what if he was the second most powerful demon in all of the Demon Realm? He was nothing more than an ordinary demon in front of Siegfried.

Although he was the Demon King’s left-hand demon, Belial could never defy Siegfried. Why? It was all because Siegfried was the greatest Demon King in the history of the Demon Realm.

In addition to striking down Chief Archangel Lucifer, he also laid waste to the Celestial Realm. Both were unprecedented feats in the Demon Realm that not even Baal had achieved, so the Demon Realm’s loyalty to Siegfried was absolute at this point.

No single demon would even consider the possibility of rebelling against him. Thus, Belial prostrated on the ground in hopes of showing his unwavering dedication and loyalty..

“Thanks for all your hard work, Lord Belial,” Siegfried said with a smile.

“Not at all, my lord! Your grace is immeasurable!” Belial replied.

“By the way, that guy you contracted with was calling me a scum or something and even threatened to kill me...”

“I will educate him properly, my lord! Please forgive his insolence!”

“I am certain that you will indeed educate him. Please, handle things as you see fit.”

“Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty! I am eternally grateful!”

“Ah, I forgot one more thing. He has the keys to the Great Library. Can you get it for me?” Siegfried added.

“As you command, my lord!” Belial replied. Then, he shot up and turned to Eososios, “Hand over the key, servant.”

“B-But Lord Belial—”

Belial cut him off and threatened, “I will personally drag your soul to the Demon Realm and torture you for an eternity if you do not hand over the key right this instant.”

“H-Hiiiik?!”

In the end, Eososios was forced to hand over the keys to the Great Library without even being given the chance to show off his full potential. He had a contract with a very powerful demon, but it mattered little, as there was no way a demon could go against the will of the Great Demon King, Siegfried von Proa.