Ruger smiled faintly. Of course, he had never intended to withstand that filthy faith power with willpower and flesh alone. He was a lazy man, and he could not be bothered with excessive risks, since those usually meant trouble. Over the past few cups of tea, he had been carefully observing this Demon. He had only agreed because he had some confidence. He would cover his entire body in his own pure faith power, wearing it like armor to fend off that filthy entanglement.
If he successfully held it off, what followed would be a contest of endurance.
And if he failed...
Ruger's eyes shifted, sweeping over the Red-Haired Holy Judgment Wizard and Zorn standing at the edge of the crater. Naturally, he would immediately turn into a weak, helpless little kobold and beg the two Wizards for help.
The golden Demon made his final checks.
He checked the strange magic array he had laid out, and checked Zorn and Ruger as well.
A Demon who knew the rules.
"Sir, we can begin," Ruger said clearly when he saw the Demon's questioning look.
The Demon smiled and raised his hand, tossing the book with golden lines that he had been holding into the air. An invisible breeze swept past, catching the tumbling book and rustling its pages. The black of its cover grew deeper, and the golden lines along its edges and corners grew more vivid.
Ruger looked up. As the book turned, he caught glimpses of its open pages. There was no writing to be seen; they were pitch-black, just like the cover.
The black-and-gold book reached its highest point and stopped there, bobbing in the breeze as its pages fluttered.
The golden Demon brought his hands together. A mouth opened on his right wrist, and its sharp teeth