-1519- Are you really human?

No one knew better than River Endycase just how difficult Asmod could be.

After all, River had already faced Asmod many times before; otherwise, he wouldn't have almost lost his life just now to the three Asmods.

Imagine, how many A-rank Sky Wizards could there be in a floating city?

At most, there would be thirty or forty, right?

Yet, Asmod was at least equivalent to an A-rank Sky Wizard. If you accounted for its tough hide and outrageous regeneration abilities, unless you targeted its weaknesses, a regular A-rank Sky Wizard wouldn't stand a chance against it. Even an S-rank Sky Wizard might be worn down by Asmod.

So, to put it bluntly, the dozens of Asmods before them could very well capture an entire fortress-grade floating city, let alone an ordinary one.

Under such circumstances, what did River witness?

He saw the dozens of Asmods, enough to bring down a fortress-grade floating city, all blown away by Rozen alone, and in less than a minute.

"You... are you really human?"

River was truly shocked.

It was impossible not to be.

Although River had heard many rumors about Rozen before and knew that his strength was enough to place him at the pinnacle of humanity—one could even call him the strongest Sky Wizard—River only knew that Rozen was very powerful. But he had no idea just how powerful Rozen truly was.

Now, after witnessing Rozen's power firsthand, River realized that just as poverty limits a person's imagination, measuring someone's strength from a human perspective was equally limited.

Seeing Rozen's display of power now, River understood that this man was no longer just at the peak of humanity; he had transcended to a whole new dimension of strength.

However...

"Don't worry about it. It's not over yet."

Rozen nonchalantly said these words.

That snapped River back to reality, and he looked at the Asmods once more.

"Gah..."

"Gah..."

The Asmods that had been blown away were shakily getting back on their feet.

Their bodies, whether blasted apart or their tough hides scorched, were regenerating at an alarming rate.

"Gah!"

Several of the Asmods had already fully recovered, letting out roars before leaping at Rozen without warning.

"Whoosh!"

The sharp blade-like limbs cut through the air with a piercing whistle, slashing toward Rozen.

"Clang!"

A crisp clash rang out.

The sharp blade-limbs struck Rozen's raised arm, causing sparks to fly, but they failed to tear even a shred of his skin.

"This..."

River was once again shocked.

If Rozen's previous display of strength had made River doubt whether he was still human, then what happened now confirmed that Rozen wasn't human at all.

Blocking sharp weapons with his bare flesh and remaining unscathed?

Such a feat had only ever been witnessed on the armored bodies of the Armored Beetles, but never on a human.

This shook River's resolve.

But what happened next left him deeply moved.

"Buzz..."

"Buzz..."

"Buzz..."

Amidst the sudden hums, the blade-limbs that struck Rozen's arm began to emit waves of energy.

Seeing this, River's expression changed as he hurriedly shouted a warning.

"Careful! They're trying to drain your mana!"

This was a new ability seen in the latest versions of Asmod, allowing them to drain their opponent's jutsuryoku through physical contact, bit by bit.

River had suffered losses due to this ability before. If Rozen hadn't arrived when he did, River would have likely had all his jutsuryoku drained by those three Asmods, leading to his death.

So, despite his shock and doubt, River loudly warned Rozen.

Unexpectedly...

"Drain my mana?"

Rozen didn't even flinch, a hint of mockery appearing on his face.

Then, something extraordinary happened.

The Asmods attempting to drain Rozen's jutsuryoku began to swell.

"Boom—!"

In the next instant, those Asmods exploded into a spray of flesh and blood, covering the entire area.

River was utterly stunned.

But Rozen only glanced at the remains with an indifferent expression and spoke calmly.

"They really had a death wish, trying to absorb my mana."

Rozen's mana wasn't ordinary; it was high-grade mana compressed to its limits.

Controlling even normal compressed mana required exceptional mastery of mana manipulation, let alone the extreme high-grade mana Rozen wielded. Without Rozen's mastery of the Mind's Eye, no one could hope to control it.

Trying to absorb such mana without control led to only one result—explosion.

After all, even a tiny bit of Rozen's high-grade mana, compressed from vast amounts of mana, could rival a large-scale mana reactor. Absorbing it without the ability to control it would inevitably result in being blown apart.

Thus, Rozen never worried about his mana being drained. In fact, he was willing to let the Asmods try.

If Rozen didn't allow it, who could take his mana with his level of control?

Moreover, with Gyokuto guarding him, who could tamper with Rozen's mana under the protection of a divine beast?

Therefore, the Asmods attempting to drain Rozen's mana were simply seeking their own demise.

Rozen's gaze turned pitying as he looked at the remaining Asmods.

"Though you are innocent, now that you've become like this, may you rest in peace."

With that, flames once again flared in Rozen's eyes.

"Boom—!"

This time, an even larger explosion occurred.

Before the Asmods could even charge forward, they were engulfed by the raging flames, blasted apart and consumed, reduced to nothing but ash.

The dozens of Asmods were wiped out by Rozen in mere moments.

River was completely numb from the sight.

Utterly numb.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Rozen turned around and noticed River gazing at him as if he were some kind of deity. Rozen rolled his eyes.

But River could only think of one question.

"Are you sure you're not a humanoid Armored Beetle...?!"

Before he could finish, Rozen kicked him squarely.

"Sorry, but I'm human, not some humanoid beetle. Sorry to disappoint you."

Rozen replied with a wry smile.

Surprisingly, this actually reassured River.

"Good thing. If someone as monstrous as you were an Armored Beetle, humanity would truly have no hope...!"

Before he could finish his sentence, River was kicked again by Rozen.

However, this time, Rozen wasn't just messing with him.

"Boom!"

A scorching beam of light sliced through the air, striking Rozen just as he kicked River aside.