The giant standing amid the city ruins slowly faded, revealing Luke's tiny figure within.
He descended onto a rooftop and looked down at the blood and severed snake heads strewn across the streets. He could not help shaking his head.
"This thing was a nightmare to kill. If we'd fought it normally, it would've worn us to death."
Not far away, Oren landed beside him.
"I envy that new secret art of yours. As long as the enemy can't see through it, you're practically invincible. It's especially useful against big, dumb brutes like that."
"Haha, exactly. I joined the Illusionist School for its secret arts with all their strange effects. Hammering away at a contest of raw strength every day would be unbearably dull."
As they spoke, someone lifted a hidden hatch in the corner of a bloodstained alley. A slight, hunched figure emerged. His entire body looked as though it lay behind blurred glass, making him hard to see. He had suppressed his aura to its limit; even the rats scurrying past his feet failed to notice him.
When he saw that the enormous monster that had burst through the ground was dead, surprise crossed his face. He crouched again and watched his surroundings for a long while. Only after confirming that no one had noticed him did he cautiously rise.
He took a small, filthy bottle from his clothes and opened it. Thick blood mist drifted out and seeped into the monster's corpse.
Half a minute later, he nodded in satisfaction, slipped back underground, and pulled the hidden hatch shut.
Soon, a dense Dead Ember aura began to emanate from the dead monster. Oren and the others initially thought it was the natural change brought on by death, but the aura did not fade. It grew stronger.
"Something's