I, on the other hand, limited myself to a support role, cutting down any small fry and observing the situation as a whole. Guts had already narrowly avoided getting trapped three times when the local "mages" attempted to enclose him within a sealing barrier. However, I immediately detected the signs of such magic and preemptively destroyed those who used it.

Finally, the ritual circle had absorbed enough souls, death energy, and Bahion power, and was ready to open the portal. But there remained a "small problem" - the local demon lord. He stubbornly refused to die, and it was dangerous to open the portal in his presence. This was a quite complex magic, and any interference in the ritual could ruin everything.

Raw physical strength and all forms of magic had exhausted their capabilities and failed to inflict sufficient damage on the demon. He himself was a powerful and skilled mage, and even our combined "power attacks" did not reach ten percent of his reserve of demonic power. In such a situation, we had to rely only on science and physics.

Although the local world seemed to be "spiritual," it still had a material component. Specifically, the entire surrounding world consisted of atoms. And where there are atoms, there is radiation. In this universe, the consequences of radioactive decay were not highly dangerous. However, the decay of matter itself significantly destabilized the physical bodies of demons.

I began to use magic to convert all the surrounding matter into an unstable state. After some time, radiation penetrated the demon's body, and he started to receive damage reminiscent of poison. All his efforts to heal were in vain, and the course of the battle finally began to change. Guts and I, of course, did not escape the same consequences, but the chemical composition of our bodies did not play a significant role. The maximum threat we faced was the softening of our brains, in terms of Vritra's body filler.

"Bastard! How dare you? I will destroy you!!! Stop! What kind of vile magic is this? My master will punish you!" - screeched the demon, sensing his impending doom. He tried to escape several times, but I blocked all his attempts by setting up barriers of chakra.

Finally, the resilient victim perished, and its soul was consumed by the ritual circle. Making sure that no one else could interfere, I activated the final phase of the ritual, and a glowing portal opened before us. Instructed Guts immediately leaped into it, and also with him sitting on his shoulder.

We emerged from the portal into a massive hall, filled with hundreds of powerful demons, each no weaker than the demon lord we had just slain. All of them sat at enormous tables and... feasted. It seemed we had stumbled right into the promised feast.

Guts immediately sensed Griffith's presence nearby and rushed towards him, ignoring all the other demons. The rest of the demons froze in surprise, their mouths agape, allowing a couple of lucky victims to escape from those jaws. Running through the hall towards its "richest" part, where the fattest demons sat, Guts caught sight of Griffith... only to lose sight of him again. This time, some monstrous creature had swallowed the poor apostle and began thoughtfully chewing on him.

"Spit him out!" - Guts roared with all the strength of his lungs. - "He's my prey!"

With these words, he leaped onto the table and plunged his sword into the demon's throat. Compared to the enormous body of the creature, the two-meter-long sword seemed no bigger than a pocket knife. But after inflicting a shallow wound, the demon shrieked as if it were being devoured alive.

"A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a!!! Help! What are you all staring at? Kill this monster! A thousand pregnant virgins to whoever kills him!"

With these words, the demon unexpectedly leaped up, flung Guts aside with a tentacle strike, and galloped away, shrieking in panic. At the same moment, all the surrounding demons descended upon Guts, attempting to kill him or at least capture him.

I had already prepared myself to sell my life dearly, but then it suddenly became clear that these demon lords were nothing more than meat waiting to be chopped up for the stubborn Sacrifice. The demon lord we killed to open the gate had the same reserve of demonic power and "spiritual pressure." But he was a veteran of thousands of battles, a master of magic.

These demon lords resembled gluttonous rich men more than anything, whose power was based solely on the "right" to command others. They waved their paws, mandibles, and tentacles, but couldn't even land a proper hit on their agile prey. As for using any complex incantations, forget about it. All they could do was thrash around with raw energy, which was equivalent to a free recharge for Guts. After all, he had been continuously absorbing the energy of slain enemies, growing stronger with each new death.

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In the resulting chaos, it was impossible to pursue the fugitive who had devoured Griffith, so Guts had to stay behind once again to "clean up the area." We had stumbled upon a feast where powerful demons had gathered, but suddenly, this feast turned into a bloody hell. Or you could say that the feasters themselves became food for the food. The radiant energy of the Brand of Sacrifice drove those around it mad, causing them to frenzy and throw themselves at Guts like wild animals. The stronger the Sacrifice, the stronger the hunger it evoked. Even the parasite in my soul suddenly awakened and began to gaze with interest at my companion.

'The feast' lasted for an hour, but its result was the destruction of a crowd of powerful demon lords, which elevated Guts to their level. Now, even I wasn't sure if I could defeat such a monster. Fortunately, it wasn't necessary. I was just a 'petty elf' who futilely hovered around, occasionally doing something useful. By the way, my ability to fly was activated again in this place, so I happily flew around Guts, commenting on his particularly successful strikes.

Finally, after finishing off the last demon, the swordsman broke through the gates leading out of the room, and we emerged into open ground. The sky was the most captivating thing here. It resembled a gigantic vortex that seemed to draw in the souls of those who looked at it. Or maybe it wasn't just an illusion, because I felt an unpleasant influence on myself.

"Don't look at the sky. Follow Griffith" - I reminded my guide of our journey's purpose. Through the Brand of Sacrifice, I could sense that the apostle was still alive, although he was experiencing indescribable torment, being digested in the stomach of the demon that had devoured him.

Guts diverted his gaze from the abyss of the sky and ran forward, picking up tremendous speed. In just an hour, the demon had managed to run quite far, but now we were catching up to him at a rapid pace. After ten minutes, a bloated carcass with flabby sides appeared 'on the horizon', which turned around, saw Guts, and let out a disgusting scream. After that, the demon fled, shrieking at the top of its lungs. And just as retribution in the form of Guts was about to catch up to him, calls for help led to the desired result, and four demons dressed in black armor appeared in our path.

Judging by their behavior, it was a squad of local guards. They skillfully pushed Guts away from his prey, which continued to scream and rushed towards a huge palace, the sight of which triggered waves of nausea and panic within me. It seemed that Azathoth resided there. But I wouldn't go there. Intuition told me that the "main entrance" would only lead to Azathoth's dinner table.

"Sorry, dude, I just remembered I have some urgent business. I'll be back in a bit" - I said to Guts before rushing away from the scene of the skirmish.

Although these four demons were much stronger than any other inhabitants of the spirit world we had encountered before, I was confident in Guts' ability to deal with them. And honestly, this whole "journey" felt like a cheap setup to me. Despite supposedly being near the dwelling place of the most powerful being in the entire universe, we hadn't encountered a single opponent about the level of a Being or any other Player. It seemed more like Guts was being fed with a bunch of greedy scum that should have been disposed of long ago.

Now the shared part of our journey was over, and from now on, everyone was on their own. The ungrateful creature I had transformed into an extremely powerful demon didn't even look back at me, simply throwing a short "get lost." Well, I wouldn't miss him.

Using camouflage spells, I flew away from Azathoth's palace, looking around for something interesting. I still had to find a way to attend Azathoth's reception, but first, I had to wait for the "dinner" to end. Tracking spells were installed in Guts' body and his central crystal, so I would know when he would finally be devoured. Or when he would kill Azathoth, although that was already something out of the realm of unscientific fantasy or some kind of graphomurk.

Flying over the forest of demonic trees, which were repulsive in their appearance, I unexpectedly spotted a grassy clearing with a large stone in the center, where one could sit and rest. So, what if the grass here was suspiciously crimson and the stone wasn't really a stone, but another demon? Boldly settling on the bald head of the demon buried in the ground, with only its head sticking out, I decided that this place was perfect to wait for the Sacrifice to be offered.

"Hey, you little one! I'll eat you" - declared my seat, extending a long, flexible tongue from its mouth towards me.

"No, I'll eat you" - I replied, severing the tip of its tongue with magic and wondering if it could be turned into sausage.

"Ouch! You disgusting bug, why are you biting me?" - protested the head, retracting its tongue before I could cut off another piece.

"You should have kept quiet, you dimwit. I am His Majesty, the great Elf King Fuck! Insignificant demons like you couldn't even touch me. The fact that I sat on your bald spot with my divine butt should be seen as the greatest honor" - I retorted, throwing away the severed tongue.