I shook my head lightly, amused, then turned my attention back to North.
"So," I asked, "what are your plans for the ritual? Are you going to focus on Fire Laws?"
Her class was very different from ours, centered more on stealth, wind, and space. The technique Dante had given her was already strong enough that she didn’t need to stray far from it.
"No fire," she said. "Only Blood Laws. I think Hidden Cleave can evolve if I integrate it properly." She paused for a moment. "And I’ve been testing my blade skills with Lyrate every day. I’ve improved a lot."
"That works too," I said. "Have you received your quest yet?"
Steve, North, and Primus were all close to the levels where the System usually issued the quest. But so far, nothing had appeared.
North shook her head. "No."
I looked at Steve and Primus.
Both of them shook their heads as well.
That silence bothered me more than I expected.
The room fell silent all of a sudden.
No one spoke, but the same thought crossed all our minds at once. The absence of quests wasn’t random. It felt deliberate.
I was almost certain it was the System’s doing. In a way, I had been expecting something like this. Ever since the Chained Fallen made his move, the System had gone quiet. Too quiet. I knew it wouldn’t stay that way forever. What surprised me was not that it was acting, but that this time it wasn’t acting through me.
It was acting through them.
I ran through the possibilities in my head, one after another. There were three clear points where the System could interfere.
The ritual.
The rift we were planning to visit.
Dragos.
These events were going to happen back-to-back. Any one of them could be used as a trigger, a test, or a trap. Of course, knowing the System, it could also do something completely unexpected. It had too many pieces on the board and too many ways to move them.
"Let’s wait," I said finally, breaking the silence as I stood up. "Whatever it is, it’ll show itself soon. We just keep moving forward."
I glanced at them. "Orobas is ready. He’s already on the stage. You should go."
They nodded without argument. In the next moment, all three of them vanished from the room, heading straight toward the massive stadium-like structure on the eastern side of the capital. The ritual grounds. The same place where the Blood and Fire Ritual had always been held.
As soon as they were gone, I raised my hand and summoned Knight.
A crimson summoning circle flared beside me. Knight stepped out, his posture straight, his expression serious as always. We exchanged a single look. No words were needed. He nodded once and disappeared, following after the trio from the shadows.
Left alone, my thoughts grew heavier.
I could feel it now. This was no longer just about growth or preparation. Somewhere ahead lay my real conflict—with the System, with the Fallen, or with both. Neither could be trusted. Both were far stronger than me at present. Charging in blindly would be suicide.
I didn’t yet know what path I would take.
But there was nothing wrong with preparing early.
I exhaled slowly and left the room. With a step, I slipped into the hidden pocket space where the world core of Armus rested.
The moment I arrived, the core drifted closer to me, almost eagerly, like a loyal creature responding to its master.
I smiled faintly.
I extended my hand and infused a stream of violet Essence into it. The world core reacted instantly, devouring the Essence greedily. Through our connection, I opened my senses and looked outward, watching the gathering.
The ritual was about to begin.
Orobas stood at the center of the stadium, alone on a raised stone platform.
In his hands was a staff made of deep red wood, its surface carved from end to end with dense, ancient runes. They were not simple markings. Even at a glance, I could tell they were layered, laws woven into laws, symbols overlapping in ways that made the air around them feel mysterious.. At the very center of the platform was a circular opening, perfectly shaped to receive the staff. That was the key. Once it was placed there, the ritual would begin.
I focused my perception on the staff and let it sink into the runes.
Fire laws. Blood laws. Traces of something deeper.
There were faint impressions of soul energy threaded through the structure, old and worn, like fingerprints left behind long ago.
I had already asked Orobas about it. Even he didn’t know whether the staff had been created by the System itself or by the demon ancestor who had nearly reached Saint rank. Either way, it wasn’t something made lightly.
Around the platform, the stadium was filled.
Exactly one thousand demons sat cross-legged on the ground, arranged in wide, concentric circles that spread outward like ripples on water. Every single one of them belonged to the Bloodreavers. Masters and Grandmasters alike, their auras restrained but dense, their focus sharp. No one spoke. No one moved more than necessary.
This was not a spectacle.
It was a test.
Primus, Steve, and North arrived quietly and took their seats in the first row. Their presence did not go unnoticed. A few demons glanced in their direction, eyes lingering longer than polite, especially when they realized humans had been allowed into the inner circle.
But no one said anything.
Both of them were known now. Their actions in the Valley of Warriors had made sure of that. Fighting a Phantom. Cutting through abominations. Standing their ground when Horus was attacked. Even those who disliked them, especially the remaining Del Rey supporters, could not deny they were powerful.
The Bloodreavers already knew.
They had seen it with their own eyes.
Orobas stepped closer to the center of the platform.
"All of you sitting here," he said, "are the first demons to benefit from the outcome of the war we have just won."
His gaze swept over the thousand seated figures.
"Make sure you use this opportunity properly," he continued. "You may never receive another like it." His tone hardened slightly. "Some of you would not even be here if we had allowed the Ronics or other factions to participate."
A subtle shift passed through the crowd. Spines straightened. Breathing steadied.
"So take this seriously," Orobas said. "Give it everything you have."
He stopped at the exact center of the platform, standing directly above the opening meant for the staff. The runes beneath his feet pulsed faintly, as if responding to his presence.
"I will now explain how the ritual will work," he said.
This was the moment.
Whether the System interfered here or not, I was about to see how deeply its hands were buried inside the Blood and Fire Ritual.