A breeze blew past.
With a meaningful smile, Ruger turned to look at the pair of beast ears beside him.
The Beast-Eared Witch looked astonished and bewildered, seemingly even more surprised and confused than Ruger. Then, despite having come through a chaotic battle and burned her own life force without incident, she froze in place, looking utterly dumbfounded, as though she had no idea how to explain anything.
Ruger raised an eyebrow and instinctively took a slow step back.
Blood sprayed!
She vomited great mouthfuls of blood, while more streamed from her eyes, nostrils, and elsewhere.
Ruger's hand moved, and the Demon Dice, which he had not used in some time, appeared between two fingers.
Was this a hidden injury left over from the earlier battle?
The Beast-Eared Witch's face turned ashen in an instant, and all light faded from her eyes. This witch, with her strong sense of justice, who would argue with others over earnest efforts to save someone, whose eyes would sparkle, lost every trace of vitality in the blink of an eye, as though her soul had been snatched away.
Whoosh!
Ruger stepped back again, simultaneously manipulating the Boundless Cage to tighten its restraints on the seemingly boneless humanoid Invader.
The new robe the Beast-Eared Witch had changed into only a short while ago became even more bedraggled than her previous one within the space of a breath.
Dazed stillness and flowing blood seemed to define that moment.
Mental power surged from Ruger as he sensed his surroundings. He looked to either side, then up into the trees, his brow furrowing more deeply.
The Beast-Eared Witch stirred and raised one trembling hand. Her arm climbed higher and higher until it was level with her shoulder, her fingers twitching as though trying to grasp something.
Ruger raised