Yet the ritual had already taken shape. Swept along by this overwhelming tide, he had become a fish on the chopping block; no matter how he struggled, he could not change the situation.
The aura of the [Demon God] grew stronger and stronger.
The red-faced man's soul phantom bore the brunt of it.
He was closest and most deeply affected. More than half of his phantom had already been sucked into the black hole.
Yet he felt no fear, only madness—madness for dedication, for desire, for the Demon God.
But before his soul phantom was completely drawn away, the phantoms formed from those "Pseudo-God Cards" were torn apart and sucked in first.
A soul was rooted in the flesh, their connection close and relatively stable.
The connection between the phantoms of the "Pseudo-God Cards" and the cards themselves was comparatively fragile. Unable to withstand the suction, it broke first.
As every phantom was sucked into the black hole, crack after crack appeared across the surfaces of the "Pseudo-God Cards." At a certain moment, they suddenly shattered and were completely destroyed.
The aura of the "Demon God" grew stronger once more.
The red-faced man's soul and the souls of the remaining Demon Race members were affected the most. They even threw themselves into the black hole of their own accord.
All of a sudden, the connection between the red-faced man's soul phantom and his body snapped. With nothing left to anchor it, it was instantly sucked away.
The red-faced man was still immersed in the growth of his power and the ascension of his soul when his consciousness abruptly cut off, and his body froze in place.
As his soul phantom was sucked into the black hole, his power went with it. His body seemed to age decades in an instant,