Revealed in the Fire

Ricky's voice was extremely hoarse, sounding as if his vocal cords had just been cut out and sewn back in.

Ricky's head reappeared atop his neck—Tales felt his scalp go numb as he watched it happen. The horrifying gap between head and neck was clearly visible. Above it was a ghastly, bloodless face; below it was neck flesh that still retained its vivid red color.

It was as if... his head had been sewn back onto his corpse.

Except there were no stitches.

"What exactly are you..."

Sakrael could hardly believe his eyes.

He glared at Ricky, who was locked in a contest of strength with him, refusing to give up his attempt to split him open with the axe blade:

"What exactly are you?"

But Ricky did not answer directly. Krasu of the Calamity Sword merely wore a corpse-white, deathly smile, the terrifying gap still visible around his neck, and chuckled.

This even made many of his subordinate Mercenaries tense up. Josh even closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"I have to admit, between the two of us," Ricky said weakly, making his laughter sound even more eerie, "you're the stronger one."

The next second, Ricky—already so bizarre that he had left everyone dumbstruck—suddenly exerted tremendous force with both arms. He hoisted Sakrael into the air, then slammed him down!

Bang!

A thunderous crash rang out.

"Commander!"

Amid Talding's hoarse roar, Sakrael hit the ground like a lifeless sandbag. He convulsed in agony, blood spilling from his mouth.

Ricky sneered and shook his head, pulled the axe blade from his chest, and casually tossed it onto the ground.

"Clang..."

Tales was stunned.

That man...

What exactly was he...?

The horrifying image of Giza placing his own head back onto his body surfaced in his mind, sending a