I leaped toward them at the fastest speed I was capable of. The stunned expressions from the useless collective attacks didn't have the time to leave their face before my fist crushed one of them like a watermelon.

I looked at my hand in surprise. There was a slight tingle.

I had felt a resistance just before my fist connected. Most likely a type of magic shield destined to cover for the frailness of a mage's body. Unfortunately for the poor lad, it hadn't been powerful enough to stop me.

The other fellows looked at me in horror before surrounding me and resuming their spell barrage. I weaved through them and removed a few heads before leaving their encirclement.

The mages looked at each other with dread. One of them stepped forward and spoke.

"Fellow brothers, this intruder is powerful. We won't be able to deal with him easily. We need to use our plan B." His voice was incredibly heavy.

A murmur spread through the crowd before they seemingly agreed with whatever proposition the man just made.

They assumed various positions around the mage. It looked like some sort of formation. With a single voice, they recited an incantation.

The incantation sounded like numerous whispers which came from the void and held untold dark secrets.

A sense of foulness overtook me and I almost gagged in repulsion. Whatever they were doing wasn't right. I didn't know how else to put it.

*I need to stop them

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I ignored my discomfort and moved toward them.

*If I break this formation, it should stop them from finishing what they are doing. Right?

With that in mind, I accelerated toward one of them, one chosen randomly. I didn't have enough magical know-how to know which one I should target to put a block in their machinations for sure. So, I planned to target them one by one until I stopped the ritual.

Sadly, before I could reach them, something changes. The cadence of their chant picked up and I was repulsed backward.

The mage at the head of the initiative suddenly lit up with a terrifying glow. A monumental presence spread from him as he pointed at the air.

On my knees, I watched as the lights dimmed suddenly, I became solemn. The texture of reality seemed to become unusually thick before becoming extremely frail.

Rip.

A terrifying sound rebounded on the walls and formed an ominous echo.

*What is this presence? and this noise?

*That presence isn't something a single being can exude. It is so incomparably vast yet It isn't sentient.

Then, I had my answer. The rip had come from the man in the middle of the formation. There was an opening at the center of his chest. Surprisingly, blood didn't spill from it. Instead, it looked like a crack in the fabric of space.

Screams diverted my focus from the man to the other cultists. They were bleeding from all their orifices. Then, they started to dry up and shrink. It was as if something had poked them with a straw and was slurping their insides.

Before long, their scream stopped and they were reduced to flakes of human remains. It was chilling. They were at least 20 but they had died in the same horrifying manner. And it was from a ritual of their design.

*These people are not only lunatics but they are extremists. I now understand why Chloe gave us the order to massacre them all without telling us to extract information from their mouths.

These types of individuals wouldn't break even under torture. They would rather die than betray the object of their worship.

As this went through my mind there was a change in the ritual. The remaining man out of the mages confronting me laughed out loud, a mix of glee and hysteria.

"You will perish. The only thing I find regretful is that I will not be here to spectate it."

I rose my brow, there was a certainty in his tone that I didn't like.

Why wasn't I attacking him instead of kneeling on the floor like a dumb fuck?

It was simple, I couldn't move. Since I was repelled away, the presence summoned by the man was suppressing my body. It was like I was carrying numerous buildings blocks on my back. I even had the feeling that if it was another, they would have been crushed by the presence. Both in body and mind.

*Are they capable of summoning a presence so powerful that even Thorn Crimson's felt like a firefly compared to it?

I refused to believe this. So I kept watching. The ritual was coming to an end.

The crack on the chest of the man had grown from his torso to bisect his whole body in two-part. Somehow, the guy was still alive. I felt like I was watching something horrible and impossible at the same time.

Of the things I had seen since I entered this crazy world, this one took the cake in terms of bizarreness.

"It is completed. Intruder, have you ever heard of demons?"

His words brought a chill to my spine. An understanding pierced the fog that was permeating my brain.

"Am I to understand that you are currently summoning a demon onto this plane?" My voice was cold even to me.

Chloe had long since believed this cult to be a demonic one as their main agenda was soul collection. Everybody knew that no one had as much interest in souls as a demon.

"Indeed, but worry not I am the only summoner capable of summoning a demon in this conclave. This is also the grace of the great one." He had a dreamy expression on his distorted mien.

"As long as you manage to defeat it, your companions aren't likely to come across another one." He continued, his voice filled with deep malice.

"Are you the one who is in charge of this place?" I asked.

Was my luck so bad that I would meet the final boss as soon as we got separated?

"Oh no, not at all. He is much more powerful than me. I am maybe third in terms of power in the hierarchy of this place." he answered candidly.

"Why are you being so forthcoming?" I asked puzzled by his willingness to answer my questions.

"First, you can't stop me. The mere presence of the Hell realm brought you to your knees. As such, the summoning isn't in jeopardy. Second, I going to die. Summoning a demon without collateral is sadly fatal. So, I want you to know what is happening and know that you can't do anything to stop it."

*This guy is perverse

"Without collateral? Look at your colleagues I think they would beg to differ." I said sarcastically.

"Well, they were aware of the price. They accepted their roles as sacrifices. And they are simply dead. At least their souls are still their own. Mine will become the possession of this demon. That's what true collateral is in all matters concerning a demon. The soul."

"Is that why you guys are collecting souls? To summon an army of demons and what? conquer the world?" Though I doubted he would give me what I wanted, I couldn't help but try.

He narrowed his eyes.

"To be honest, I don't know. None of us do. It is sufficient to know that it is HIS will. " He said simply.

I was baffled. They had killed an innumerable amount of people through history for their souls and they didn't know why?

*Insane people

"If you know you needed souls for the summoning ritual why did you not use the ones you collected through the years?" I was truly puzzled by this.

"They are not for us to use. It's all for HIM."

I rose imaginary hands in the air.

*I give up, they are irrecuperable.

A scream made me look back at him, he had been entirely swallowed by the crack. Following that, a paw the size of my entire body stepped through the door.