A few minutes later.
As the commotion inside the Blood Slaughterhouse Fortress gradually died down.
The flock of blood birds, numbering at least several hundred thousand, seemed to be drawn by some force.
They began converging at the center.
Then, amid shrill bird cries, crimson blood mist, and fierce howling winds... Orsaga coalesced into a humanoid once more within a lake of blood and slowly walked out.
By then, inside the fortress.
Whether demons, humans, or any other bizarre creatures.
Anything that possessed life had long since been devoured completely.
Only a deathly silent, empty city remained intact.
Throughout the entire process.
The many defensive installations built with immense investments of manpower and resources—whether the sturdy walls capable of withstanding battering rams or the Defensive Barriers that could block all sorts of enemy spells—had failed to serve any practical purpose whatsoever.
It was as though they did not exist at all!
They had not caused Orsaga even the slightest trouble!
For that very reason.
Even now.
The other strategic fortresses in the distance still had no idea this place had already fallen and continued enjoying their comfortable lives.
"The relevant concepts for the demon factor have been collected. Next, it's time to get to the real business..."
Muttering these cryptic words, Orsaga took a step forward. Space and time immediately warped on their own, teleporting him to a location more than two hundred li west of the fortress.
There.
An enormous river came directly into view, with blood-red sand and stones along its banks and vast quantities of dark purple water flowing through its channel.
As far as the eye could see.
On that river of unknown bounds, aside from a few special ferryboats.
There was nothing at all.
That meant not even dust or microorganisms.
That river was