Crack! Crack!
The sound of the rift at the horizon spread into the ears of every living creature beneath the sky, piercing into every heart.
Ruger watched the red-skinned demon opposite him as a fireball rapidly condensed in the hand behind his back.
This guy isn't a Rank One Wizard, Ruger thought.
The straight road carved out by the instant clearing of demons lasted beyond all expectations for a brief moment. Some demons that had narrowly escaped death were too terrified to step forward, but those farther behind had not seen the blink-of-an-eye sight of demons being wiped away like stains. They crowded, slaughtered, and screamed as the straight road gradually closed, like a slowly healing scar.
Ruger smiled as he watched the red-skinned demon's deeply furrowed brow.
Their gazes clashed and never broke. Demon figures, tall and short, began to flicker into view between them. Those fighting, clamorous figures swayed about, sometimes blocking a corner of their vision, sometimes flashing past in an instant. Yet the two continued staring at one another as though completely unaware, like mortal enemies or lovers who had not met for over a decade, utterly unaffected by those shifting figures.
Until the demons completely filled that straight road that had existed only briefly.
Ruger's smile finally darkened. He turned back for another glance at Big Guy, immersed in the Ascension Ritual.
Things seemed to be getting troublesome.
Fortunately, that red-skinned fellow probably could not leave that person's side either.
If Ruger had guessed correctly, there was someone over there carrying out something as well—perhaps even the Ascension Ritual.
This place, where demon flesh and blood carpeted the earth, was an excellent location. Surely many Ascension Rituals could be performed here: bloodline Wizards connected to demon bloodlines, for instance; Wizards like Lord Zorn, who cultivated