With a thought, Ruger cast Fendim's Flaming Centipede, which he had long since quietly finished empowering. Its growth had stalled lately because of the delay in completing the final step of the Book of Resentment, but it had already reached thirty legs when he first began studying the book. That was without him giving it his all. He had followed his plan, steadily doing his part each day and letting time carry him toward a qualitative transformation. Otherwise, the centipede would have had far more than thirty legs.
One of this spell's defining features was that advance preparation saved a great deal of trouble when the time came to use it, and in more ways than one. Its unique nature even let it skip the step of shooting toward its target.
The flaming centipede walked out beside the mouthless man as though taking a stroll outside its own front door. This time, however, its steps were anything but leisurely. It was like a beast springing into action after gathering its strength. Yet it involved no spatial power, so its appearance caused no spatial fluctuations.
Wearing a strange smile, the mouthless man was just about to say something when a fiercely burning figure engulfed his body.
But Ruger's brow twitched. He believed the fellow had noticed it, but had assessed the situation and chosen not to dodge.
"What an interesting spell. This is my first time seeing anything like it. It's hot, yet it doesn't seem quite that hot," the mouthless man said in a low voice, almost teasingly. "Is it going to twist off my head? Cut me apart and burn me to ashes?"
Even before casting it, Ruger had guessed that he would not finish this in a single blow. After unleashing Fendim's Flaming Centipede, he already had a