The scene was reflected in Grewu's pupils.
Orucia's waist twisted out of alignment, blood spraying as he split cleanly into two halves in midair and crashed heavily to the ground.
The dust settled.
Before his creator—or rather, merely an inconspicuous avatar of his creator—Orucia had still been defeated, and defeated in utter shambles.
"Lord Orucia..." Grewu suddenly collapsed to the ground, his face blank with helplessness.
Hovering in midair, the Lord of No Flame lowered his head to look at Orucia, who had been severed in two—
Orucia was not dead. He was even desperately trying to grow new flesh from the cross-section of his body, attempting to reconnect his severed halves.
The Lord of No Flame said calmly, "Do not waste your effort. With the energy you have left, recovery is practically impossible."
Orucia raised his blood-covered face and glared venomously at the Lord of No Flame.
At that moment, a faint glimmer suddenly flashed between Orucia's brows, and the mark of the Kindled Fire Relic reappeared. As the mark emerged, the flesh buds growing from the cross-section of Orucia's waist accelerated somewhat.
"I nearly forgot. You still have a way to borrow external power. But recovery remains impossible... Do you think I will give you the time?" The Lord of No Flame looked down upon the ruined flesh amid the dust. White flames already flickered in his palm.
Just as the flame-light grew brighter, an ancient, intricate, evil aura spread over from afar.
The Lord of No Flame abruptly turned his head, staring directly toward the source from which that aura emanated.
—The deep pit.
Or rather, it was the deep pit formed when the Lord of No Flame had smashed Bobota down earlier. That ancient, evil aura was spreading from within it.
Angel and Grewu in the