The rift had opened ahead of schedule and what was strange was the fact that no demon emerged from it even after a minute had gone by.
The black wound floated inside the enormous cavern beneath the mountain, its uneven edges releasing silver sparks and thin streams of crimson demonic energy. Pale-blue Aether pressed against the foreign power from every direction, causing the air around the opening to twist.
Human soldiers waited behind layered barriers.
Rifles, artifact cannons, and formation-guided weapons remained aimed at the rift. Demon Slayers occupied the positions closest to it, while Runemasters watched hundreds of readings move across suspended screens.
No one fired because there was nothing to fire at.
Another thirty seconds passed.
Then a minute.
Suddenly, the silence became more unsettling than the invasion itself.
Three powerful humans stood on a hill overlooking the first defensive line.
They were not commanders.
