A while later...
CRASH!
There was a sudden violent impact on the ground caused by Ethan’s arrival on site.
The landing force was enough to create a massive smoke cloud that billowed outward. This was intentional on his part because right then, under the mask of dust, a mass of darkness subtly slipped out of Ethan’s shadow.
It moved quickly and silently, going around the corner and rging seamlessly with the shadows cast by old machinery and broken crates as it made its way toward Bettie’s unconscious form.
The dust began to clear, revealing Casper standing there, waving his hand dramatically over his face as though trying to brush away the dust while faking an exaggerated cough.
Then his face lit up like a child as he looked genuinely excited at Ethan’s arrival.
"Ah! You ca right on ti!" Casper exclaid cheerfully while raising a pocket watch from his coat, before tucking it back in.
Ethan stared at them both who were standing side by side each other with absolutely no expression on his face.
Casper tilted his head playfully and began speaking. "I will never understand why people intentionally make themselves weak. You set up all these defenses and took counterasures... only to be so easily lured in by this?"
He pointed lazily in Bettie’s direction without even bothering to look at her body.
Ethan still said nothing in response. His expression remained cold and unreadable.
Casper’s grin widened even further as he gestured forward with one hand. "Well then, step forward to receive your judgnt."
But you see, Ethan couldn’t move past that point.
He had stopped right where he landed because any movent past that point would an entering the range covered within the skull totems he had seen through Joe’s eyes earlier.
Which were most likely traps waiting to spring the mont he crossed that threshold.
Instead, his gaze turned toward Bettie’s body lying in the far corner.
Casper noticed where Ethan was looking and spoke up again with that sa mocking cheerfulness in his tone.
"Oh, you don’t have to worry about your tutor," he said. "She’s only just asleep right now. But when she wakes up, she’ll find your dead body here beside her."
Casper glanced over toward Bettie’s corner briefly as he spoke, then removed his eyes for just a second.
But sothing made him glance back again almost imdiately, and when he did, his eyes widened in shock.
What he just saw was the last of Bettie’s body subrging into what looked like a pool of darkness swallowing her whole before moving away so quickly.
"What?!" Casper exclaid loudly.
"Now," Ethan said silently in his thoughts.
Right then, a bullet traveling at a speed that broke the sound barrier from over three thousand ters away, suddenly struck one of the skull totems dead center.
The impact displaced it , sending it toppling over onto its side.
The glow in the eyes of all four skulls snuffed out simultaneously as the spell anchoring them deactivated.
"Huh?" Casper whipped his head around toward the direction of the displaced skull with confusion on his face.
Dante beside him just as confused by what was happening.
Right then, another bullet shot toward Casper’s position from that sa distant location. This one was aid directly at him while his attention was still on the skull area.
However, before it struck, Casper raised the back of his left clenched fist without even looking at the point it ca from.
The bullet struck directly on that surface then ricocheted off and embedded itself into a concrete support beam several ters away, subtly disappearing into specks of purple light right after.
Then Casper turned toward the direction where the bullet had co from with fury burning in his eyes and his teeth gritted together.
The distance from the sniper’s position was too far for him to make anything out clearly, but he knew soone was there watching them.
But in the sa instant, another bullet shot toward their position again.
This one was aid at Dante instead of Casper this ti.
Casper, who had now fully turned toward the direction of incoming fire, swiped his right fist through the air with blinding speed and deflected it mid-flight before it could reach Dante at all.
But just as he had deflected that bullet away, sothing else ca hurtling toward him from Ethan’s side of the battlefield.
A large golden shield traveled through the air like a frisbee thrown with devastating force, spinning rapidly toward Casper’s position.
It looked like it was about to strike him clean on torso.
But just as it seed inevitable that impact would occur, Dante acted.
He swung the monstrous-looking spear that had materialized in his hand in one fluid motion, striking directly at the shield before it made contact and deflecting it off course.
This was Bierzim’s spear, borrowed in the sam similar fashion as Ethan would borrow skills from his summons.
The golden shield flew off to the side from the force of Dante’s strike and dissolved into purple motes of light mid-air before it hit the ground.
A gust of wind blew past the trio as the stage for battle had been set.
Ethan, during that brief commotion with the shield and bullets, had taken on his full demonic dragon transformation.
His feet floated a few ters above the ground, held aloft by his flight spell.
Dark scales covered his arms and portions of his neck, while his eyes glowed with this reddish amber hue that had reptilian slits narrowed in its focus.
Small horns protruded from his forehead, the dragon pair larger and curving back while the demon pair grew out just in front of them. A tail swayed behind him, and a purple aura radiated from his body.
The legendary sword Ragnarok was gripped firmly in his right hand, emitting a brilliant glow of white miasma from its edges.
In his left hand, a purple magic circle hovered just above his open palm, and streaks of lightning began forming around its lines.
A system notification appeared before his vision:
[Ragnarok has granted you: Battle Sense]
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