The skies over Inferna darkened even further.
The red moon trembled.
A massive rift cracked open above a ruined cathedral in the distance, spilling tendrils of living darkness into the world.
Their system screens blinked violently:
[ Warning! ]
[ Demon General Ritual Detected! ]
[ Time Remaining Until Completion: 2 Hours ]
Mission Updated:
Primary Objective: Interrupt the Summoning Ritual.
Secondary Objective: Rescue the Hidden Survivors (estimated 3 people) hiding inside the city ruins.
Failure Consequence:
Demon General will be fully summoned (World Difficulty upgraded to Tier 4).
Survivors permanently lost.
Massive Corruption Spread (30% permanent terrain corruption).
The group gathered around, grim-faced.
Lian inhaled deeply, feeling the suffocating weight of the corrupted world pressing down on them.
Jayce — even with his wound purified — was pale.
Demist was tightening the wrappings around his arms.
Elric was silently repairing his cracked mana shield device.
A choice had to be made.
Save survivors... or stop the ritual?
Both were hundreds of meters apart — no way to do both in time unless they split up.
Splitting up... in a demon world...
was basically signing a death warrant.
Tough Choice 3: Split Up or All-In
Demist was the first to speak.
"I'll go after the survivors alone if needed."
Jayce snorted, weakly grinning, "Oh sure, Grandpa Axeman gonna solo demons? Nah, we go together."
Elric pushed up his cracked glasses.
"I hate splitting up. But if we don't, we'll be fighting a Tier 4 Demon General."
Lian closed his eyes, thinking hard.
He made the call.
Split up.
They had to risk everything to win.
Demist and Jayce would hunt down and protect the survivors.
Lian and Elric would rush the cathedral to disrupt the ritual.
Demist & Jayce's Path: The Hunt for the Survivors
The ruins were a labyrinth of broken skyscrapers and rivers of molten black tar.
Corrupted beasts — Flesh Rats, Bone Hounds, and Shadow Wasps — roamed freely.
Demist led the way, swinging his war axe in brutal arcs, clearing the path.
Jayce, riding a Rapid-Fire Slingshot Turret installed on the upgraded rickshaw, covered his back.
They found the first survivor — a young woman with silver hair and an ancient rune shield — pinned inside a destroyed hospital.
[ Hidden Survivor: Elyra — Rank B Support Mage. ]
They fought to free her — battling Demonic Brutes whose bones jutted through their skin like spears.
Jayce made jokes even during the battle:
"Hey Demist! Bet you dinner I kill more than you!"
Demist roared back, "You're on, brat!"
The camaraderie was a fragile, burning light against the crushing darkness.
But time was running out.
Lian & Elric's Path: Assault on the Cathedral
The cathedral was a nightmare brought to life.
Floating Sacrificial Pillars bled rivers of corrupted mana into the summoning circle.
At the center stood the Ritual Master — a High Demon Acolyte cloaked in chains and molten red runes.
[ High Demon Acolyte ]
HP: 150,000
Special Abilities: Blood Summoning, Mass Madness, Corruption Pulse.
Lian and Elric launched their assault.
Elric set up Null-Magic Fields to block the summoning magic.
Lian used his Battle Gear Cycle to blitz through hordes of summoned monsters, cutting down Lesser Blood Demons with surgical precision.
The acolyte howled, sending Corruption Pulses that made the ground melt and reality flicker.
Lian's Photon Blades dimmed under the pressure.
Elric's magic circuits overloaded, blood trickling from his nose.
This wasn't a fair fight.
The Demon Acolyte summoned two Demon Knights to guard him — each stronger than the Wolf Leader from before.
The Countdown
The system flashed in front of them:
[ Ritual Completion: 60 minutes left. ]
Jayce's voice crackled over the communicator:
"We saved one! Two more found but we're pinned down! Need time!"
Lian gritted his teeth.
They needed to kill the Acolyte fast — but they were barely holding off the minions.
Elric coughed blood and collapsed to one knee.
[ Elric: Severe Mana Depletion — Risk of Core Collapse (Death). ]
The system presented Lian a terrifying choice:
Tough Choice 4: Sacrifice Elric's Magic Core to Instantly Kill the Acolyte OR Fight Normally and Risk Full Ritual Completion
Sacrifice:
Elric would lose his ability to ever use magic again — a permanent cripple.
Immediate kill of Acolyte, ritual disrupted.
Fight Normally:
Continue the slow battle. Risk massive deaths if ritual completes.
Lian's hands trembled.
"Elric…" he whispered.
"If I use your Core, you'll lose everything."
Elric looked up, smiling weakly.
"I'd rather lose my magic… than lose all of you."
Tears blurred Lian's vision.
He made the hardest decision of his life.
[ Core Sacrifice: Activated ]
Elric's body became a living bomb of pure anti-demon mana.
Lian propelled himself forward, throwing the cracked mana device directly at the High Demon Acolyte.
The resulting explosion obliterated the entire top half of the cathedral.
The ritual shattered into fragments of black glass.
[ Ritual Interrupted! ]
[ Demon General Summoning: Failed! ]
[ Corruption Reduced by 15%! ]
[ Hidden Achievement Unlocked: Savior of Inferna. ]
But Elric…
Collapsed, unconscious.
His once bright aura — gone.
He was breathing.
Alive.
But his magic… was dead.
Forever.
End of Chapter 31