It was almost amusing to imagine what Ricky's reaction might have been, had the Venom Fang Overlord somehow been aware of Darius's thoughts.
Knowing him, he would have done nothing more than roll his shoulders in that lazy, dismissive way—perhaps forcing a smile that carried neither warmth nor sincerity.
A sudden gust of wind swept through the battlefield, sharp and cold as steel. From the swirling dust, a figure emerged—silent, inevitable.
Ricky stood only a few meters away from Darius. His long black robe billowed and snapped in the wind like a torn battle standard, every movement of the fabric hinting at an invisible weight in the air. The atmosphere seemed to warp subtly around him, as though reality itself recoiled from his presence.
Darius, still half-buried in the torn earth and unable to rise, managed to choke out two words:
"You are?"
Confusion laced his voice.
