Ruger hesitated. He suspected that this fellow with the golden curved horns was trying to find an elegant enough pose for himself, a comfortable enough step to climb down on. Besides Wizard Zorn, there were two Three-Ring Wizards here, and the power this black-and-gold fellow could wield was limited, after all. Even with his peculiar abilities, he would most likely soon leave behind another piece of his mangled body and flee back to the Abyss.
And fleeing back to the Abyss would hardly be the end of it. A special demon received special treatment, and naturally had troubles other demons did not.
"Of course. I love making friends," Ruger said, going along with him.
The Golden Demon glanced curiously at the man on the ground. His trembling had stopped, and the golden characters and patterns were no longer so bright.
The demon raised his head again and looked at Ruger amiably.
"In that case, I'll have to handle this differently." Demon Smith smiled. The book in his hand stirred again without any wind, its pages flipping rapidly with a rustle. "You were so kind as to help me before. Doing this to your friend was discourteous, and hardly elegant. So... by way of apology..."
Snap!
The book first stopped at a particular page, then closed with a muffled sound.
"Urgh..."
The man, who had only just caught his breath, cried out in pain again. It seemed even worse than before.
The Golden Demon smiled and gestured for them to wait a moment.
Under the immense pain, the man thrashed violently despite having already exhausted his strength.
Suddenly, the golden characters began leaving his suffering body. At first there were only scattered specks, but gradually more appeared. Vast numbers of golden characters and patterns peeled away from the man, faster and