Chapter 23: The Demons’ Ritual

Chris continued watching the demons standing in the center of the opening.

After scanning the leader, he looked around the area again, trying to understand what the demons were doing. Something else soon caught his attention.

The entire area surrounded by the rocky cliffs looked almost like a massive crater. Because he was flying so high above it, the shape had been difficult to notice at first, even with Dragon Vision activated, but after focusing his vision more carefully, he noticed something strange in the center.

Something was glowing faintly in the air.

Chris narrowed his eyes.

It looked like a crack.

But there was no wall there. The crack was simply floating in the middle of the space, as if the space itself had been broken open.

’What is that?’

The floating crack appeared to be positioned almost exactly in the center of the crater.

Chris decided to circle high above the gathering while continuing to observe. The demons seemed to be doing something around the strange crack, and he wanted to understand what.

After watching them for several minutes, he finally noticed a pattern.

Every so often, one or more demons would arrive through one of the many openings between the rocky cliffs, carrying several blue crystals before placing them onto a growing pile near the center of the crater.

Chris focused his Dragon Vision on the crystals.

A faint purple energy could be seen filling each one.

’What are they doing with those crystals?’

The demons continued bringing more of them, placing the crystals dangerously close to the floating crack while the pile slowly grew larger.

Chris continued watching from above.

’What the hell are they doing here? This feels suspicious.’

He decided to wait and observe a little longer.

Then he noticed something else.

The demons weren’t only collecting crystals. They were also bringing wild beasts.

Several demons returned from the forest carrying captured beasts, dragging them toward the crater. Chris immediately recognized most of them as weak creatures, with most being below level 20, meaning they wouldn’t provide him with any useful experience at all.

He had already ignored many beasts like them while flying through the forest because hunting them wouldn’t increase his XP.

’Why are they hunting beasts this weak?’

There was no obvious reason for it. If the demons wanted to become stronger, killing such weak beasts shouldn’t help them much.

Chris continued observing as one of the demons brought a large wild boar toward the center of the crater. The enormous leader noticed it and walked over, reaching down with one hand and grabbing the boar. The demon was so large that he could hold the entire beast with a single hand.

The boar struggled desperately, but the demon simply brought it toward his mouth and opened it wide before swallowing the entire beast.

Chris’s eyes widened slightly.

The demon didn’t even bother killing it first. He simply swallowed the wild boar whole.

’He’s eating them?’

Chris continued watching as more beasts were brought to the crater, and every time, the enormous demon consumed them. Large numbers of low-level beasts were being fed to him, and he swallowed every single one alive.

The more Chris watched, the stranger the situation became.

The other demons continued bringing blue crystals while their leader continued eating the captured beasts, and the pile of crystals grew larger and larger as time passed.

Something about the entire scene felt wrong.

Chris couldn’t explain why, but he had a strong feeling that he should stop whatever the demons were preparing. However, he knew he couldn’t simply attack. There were more than a hundred demons surrounding the crater, and the leader was already a Level 52 monster.

Charging into the middle of them would be suicide.

’I can’t do anything yet.’

He could only continue watching.

After some time passed, something strange happened.

The enormous demon suddenly began glowing with black energy. It lasted for only a moment before disappearing completely, so quickly that Chris almost missed it.

He narrowed his eyes.

Something had changed. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he could feel that something must have changed.

Chris immediately activated the System and scanned the monster again.

His eyes widened instantly.

[Demon - A-Rank - Level 53.]

"Level 53?"

The demon’s level had increased by one.

Chris couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He took a slow breath, trying to calm himself down while looking at the enormous creature below.

’Could it be because of the beasts?’

He slowly connected the pieces together.

The demons had been bringing large numbers of weak wild beasts to their leader, and the leader had been swallowing every single one alive. Then, after consuming a large amount of them, his level had suddenly increased.

It seemed that the demons had some kind of strange ability that allowed them to consume weaker beasts and grow stronger.

Chris remembered that every beast had been brought to the leader alive, and none of them had been killed before he swallowed them.

’Maybe they have to be alive for the ability to work.’

He couldn’t be certain, but it was the only explanation that made sense.

Chris wondered if only the leader possessed this ability or if all the demons could use it as well, but there was no way for him to know yet.

Before he could think about it any further, the enormous demon suddenly stood up.

Chris immediately focused his attention on him.

The leader walked toward one of the smaller demons standing nearby. The smaller demon didn’t seem to understand what was happening as the leader raised his hand and struck directly toward its chest.

His hand pierced through the smaller demon’s body and buried itself inside its chest.

The demon’s body jerked violently.

A moment later, the leader of the demons pulled his hand back, and something was clutched between his fingers.

Chris’s eyes widened. It was a weaker demon’s heart.

The weaker demon immediately collapsed onto the ground, all signs of life disappearing from its body.

Then...

*ROOOOAAAR!*

The leader released a thunderous roar.

Every demon in the crater immediately reacted, turning toward the leader before suddenly rushing toward the openings between the rocky cliffs. Chris watched in confusion as the demons began fleeing from the area.

’Why are they running?’

The leader looked down at the heart in his hand before squeezing it tightly.

Black energy immediately began glowing around the heart.

Chris’s expression changed.

The leader suddenly threw the glowing heart toward the massive pile of blue crystals, and it flew through the air before landing directly among them.

The moment it touched the crystals, the leader turned around and sprinted toward one of the openings.

*Woosh!*

The demon’s speed was terrifying. Even with Dragon Vision, Chris could barely follow its movement as it disappeared between the rocky cliffs.

"Too fast!"

His expression became serious.

’It seems like I need to increase my Agility much further before I can even think about fighting it.’

He immediately turned his attention back toward the pile of crystals.

The faint purple energy inside them had suddenly become much brighter, spinning rapidly throughout the crystals and growing more intense with every passing second.

An ominous feeling spread through Chris’s body, and his instincts immediately warned him that something extremely dangerous was about to happen.

"Azreon, leave this place. Fast!"

Azreon immediately turned around and spread his wings, flying away from the crater at full speed.

Chris looked back as the demons that had escaped the crater hid behind the enormous rocky walls surrounding the area.

He turned his attention back toward the crater, where the purple energy inside the crystals suddenly became overwhelmingly bright.

Before Chris could react...

*BOOOOOOOOOM!*

A massive explosion erupted from the crater, and a blinding light filled the entire area.

Chris’s vision was completely overwhelmed, leaving him unable to see anything for a moment. The light finally began fading after three seconds, and when his vision returned, he immediately noticed the effects of the explosion.

The ground was trembling, the trees were shaking violently, and even the crimson sky seemed to flicker for a moment.

Then Chris felt something else. A powerful pressure was moving toward him.

His instincts screamed danger.

’The shockwave!’

The energy released by the explosion was spreading through the dungeon, and Chris immediately realized something important. He and Azreon were too high in the air, meaning the rocky cliffs had protected the demons below, but there was nothing between them and the approaching shockwave.

"Azreon! Fly down! Now!"

Azreon immediately dove toward the ground, flapping his wings as quickly as possible while trying to accelerate the descent.

But it was already too late.

*BOOOM!*

The shockwave slammed into them.

Chris felt an enormous force hit his body, and pain exploded through him as his muscles and bones seemed to crack under the pressure. He immediately activated Dragon Scales over his entire body, covering himself from head to toe with black scales.

Even with the scales protecting him, the force of the explosion was overwhelming.

"COUGH!"

Chris coughed violently and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Pain coursed through his entire body, making his vision blur and his mind lose focus. He immediately bit down on his tongue, using the pain to force himself to remain conscious.

It worked, and his mind cleared slightly. But when he looked down, his expression changed.

Azreon wasn’t moving. The dragon had lost consciousness from the explosion.

"AZREON!"

Chris tried to shout, but Azreon didn’t respond.

They were still falling rapidly, and the ground below was getting closer and closer.

Chris quickly conjured a fireball in his hand.

’Sorry, buddy.’

He struck Azreon directly on the back with the fireball.

*BOOM!*

*ROAR!*

Azreon immediately woke up from the impact.

"Azreon! Up! We need to stop the descent!"

The dragon quickly regained his senses and began flapping his wings. However, they were already falling too fast, and even with Azreon desperately beating his wings, he couldn’t slow their descent enough.

Chris looked down as the ground rushed toward them, while the trees below became larger and larger.

"Fuck! Prepare for the impact!"

Chris pushed all the mana he could into Dragon Scales, covering his entire body again.

There was no time left.

*BOOOOOOM!*

Azreon and Chris slammed into the ground at an angle, and the impact sent them crashing through several trees. Branches and pieces of wood flew in every direction as their bodies continued sliding forward, tearing apart the ground beneath them before they finally came to a stop.

A long trail had been carved through the forest where they had crashed.

...

Several miles away, in the cave where Aldric and Serena were hiding...

*BOOOOM!*

A powerful explosion echoed through the distance, and the entire cave trembled for a moment.

"What was that!?"

Serena immediately jumped to her feet, a frightened expression appearing on her face.

Aldric thought for a moment before answering.

"That was definitely an explosion. Judging by the sound and the feeling of the shockwave, it must have happened quite far from here. Why are you so scared?"

Serena turned toward him.

"I’m not scared because of the explosion. But what if something happened to Chris?"

Aldric thought about it for a moment before shaking his head.

"Chris is the most capable young man I have ever met. There is no way something bad happened to him. That brat always attracts trouble wherever he goes, but he somehow manages to escape it every time. We need to trust him."

Even while saying that, however, a slight look of worry appeared in his eyes.

Serena remained silent for a moment before nodding and taking a deep breath to calm herself down. Her fists remained tightly clenched, though, making it obvious that she was still worried.

Aldric noticed it and looked at her with a strange expression.

"Hoho? Are you really so worried that something might happen to your beloved? You didn’t even have that look on your face when you realized that your own life was in danger."

A strong blush immediately crept up Serena’s neck, and within seconds, her entire face was as red as an apple.

"W-what are you talking about!? W-who’s my beloved? I’m just worried because he’s my good friend, and he saved my life!"

Serena yelled while stomping her foot against the ground.

"Hahahahaha... Yes, yes. Keep lying to yourself, silly girl."

Aldric burst into laughter at her reaction.

Serena’s face became even redder, but she couldn’t think of anything to say in response.

"Hmph!"

She turned around and sat back down, hiding her burning face behind her hands.

"Hahahahahaha..."

Aldric continued laughing, clearly finding the entire situation extremely amusing.