"...with my will as the guide, Earth Rift Spell!" After a lengthy incantation, the earth-element Saint Archmage Dempus finally finished chanting the complete spell.
Suddenly, Dempus's gray-white brows creased slightly. He sensed that the earth elements deep underground were no longer flowing quite as he commanded. Nothing like this had happened in over a decade, and for a moment, he wondered whether he had grown old and chanted a syllable incorrectly.
While Dempus was still puzzling over this, he suddenly sensed a towering surge of baleful energy beneath his feet. It made no attempt to conceal itself. The instant he sensed it, it tore through the hard rock below and stabbed toward him like a sword that could pierce anything.
His expression changed in alarm. Dempus no longer had time to bring the errant Earth Rift Spell back under control. He focused entirely on the sudden danger. The towering baleful energy that had torn through the rock was blood-red, thrusting toward the sole of his foot like a streaming ribbon.
This is bad! Dempus cried inwardly. In his panic, he abruptly rose off the ground, flying straight upward with a Levitation Spell. At the same time, he hurriedly chanted the earth-element defensive spell Earth Armor. Dense earth elements surged toward him from every direction.
A grayish-brown suit of armor formed purely from dense earth elements instantly covered Dempus. He also cast a tenfold Gravity Spell, confining it to the area directly beneath his feet.
Han Shuo shot upward as fast as lightning. Just as the Demon-Slaying Edge was about to pierce Dempus's sole, he suddenly felt the pressure increase tenfold, briefly slowing his upward rush. He made an immediate decision, pouring Demonic Essence madly into the Demon-Slaying Edge while his body plunged downward.
Infused with Han Shuo's Demonic Essence, the