"Ah!"
"No!"
"What are you doing?!"
The elderly half-elf placed in the sacrificial position cried out in horror.
At that moment, he did not receive the increase in power he had longed for.
Instead, wave after wave of wrenching loss washed over him. His power, his soul, and his body were all being extracted.
"Ahhh!!"
The old half-elf howled in agony. After one shrill, anguished scream, his voice vanished completely.
His entire body burned, transforming into a stream of energy that flowed into the ritual.
Charles could have directly absorbed such energy to strengthen his demon body.
But that would have been too wasteful.
Moreover, Charles needed to ensure that the ritual's servant survived in the end, so all of that energy was used to summon his projection.
Power gathered.
The ritual advanced.
Far away in the Wizard World, Charles poured his own power into it in sync as his projection was summoned.
Within the roiling black mist, a savage body slowly emerged.
In the distance, the rangers surrounding the area finally realized something was wrong.
When they heard the elderly half-elf's agonized cries, they had merely found it strange.
But when that half-elf died, they finally reacted.
The ranger captain grabbed the war bow at his side, aimed at the center of the black mist, and roared, "Whatever you are, die!"
The arrow left the string, shooting toward the black mist like an enraged dragon.
The ranger captain had fired this arrow in fury, unleashing all the strength in his body.
Under the expectant gazes of all the rangers, the arrow flew into the black mist.
But the next moment—
The black mist churned far more violently than before.
Great swathes of black mist were blown away as a huge, savage wing like forged steel swept out.
Boom!!
The