While Novigel struggled to hold out under siege,
a violent spatial distortion suddenly tore open in the sky above the distant Solan Wasteland.
A moment later, Ansu fell from midair and landed firmly on his feet.
He froze when he recognized the vast wasteland around him.
The Eastern Wasteland? He remembered his trip to the Demons' ruins with Cecilia. This damned place really never changed.
He immediately looked down at his hands, his feet, his clothes, his shoes...
He wasn't a spirit, nor was this a body temporarily remade with dark magic.
He was wearing exactly what he had worn when he left.
He... had finally returned!
Ansu quickly gathered his thoughts. How long had he been gone? Before crossing over, he had been in Novigel's underground laboratory. Why had he been dumped in the Eastern Wasteland on his return?
As he wondered, a sharp pain suddenly flared in his wrist.
He pulled up his sleeve.
The hideous, eye-shaped curse mark had reappeared on his wrist, and its blood-red lines were creeping up his arm.
Ansu sneered.
"So you're still waiting here for me..."
The God of Clamorous Filth.
But even that god was probably surprised by his sudden appearance.
Ansu watched his surroundings closely, sending his powerful mental energy outward to form a broad, invisible domain.
He did not move. He simply waited.
At last, that bitterly cold, malicious gaze fell upon him once more.
In the next instant, space twisted violently. Chaotic, filthy magic surged and gathered in the sky. A gigantic eye slowly opened, black as an abyss, covering nearly half the heavens.
As soon as it appeared, black filth spread faster than ever before. Even the wasteland beneath Ansu's feet turned a lifeless gray.
Ansu braced against the crushing pressure with all his mental strength.
Then