The phenomena caused by the summoning ritual put the higher-ups in the city on high alert. But they still had to be careful in case it was a deliberate lure to attract the powerhouses out of the city.
So after a discussion involving all the top dogs in the city, they agreed that they would send one of them to investigate no matter what. The only problem was with who. However, before they could agree on which individual to send out into the forest, the wave of demonic energy spread to the city, instantly alarming the gathered powerhouses.
Although far from everyone there had personally experienced the feeling of demonic energy directly, they had both read and heard descriptions of it, letting them guess what it was. Their guess was confirmed by those who had come into contact with it.
Since the appearance of demonic energy had been confirmed, there was no longer any reason to hesitate. But there was still the possibility of it being bait to lure the powerhouses out of the city. Since nothing else had worked, demonic energy had been used. Since it was infamous and notoriously dangerous, demonic energy would practically guarantee that the city would move.
The discussion of what-ifs, although short, had delayed the group of powerful individuals of the city.
The group of powerful mages and fighters had only just arrived at the edge of the forest when the second bout of lightning started falling through the torn thunderclouds.
But they still arrived before it was too late. And when they saw the Demonic Spark Bear and felt the demonic energy surrounding it, the group didn't hesitate when attacking.
An older lady in a cardigan waved a walking stick of metal adorned with decorations and a dragon's head figure as the handle. Each swing of hers redirected the lightning falling from the sky and onto the bear, effectively stopping it from getting stronger or devouring even more lightning.
Although several of the mages were of the lightning attribute, they didn't attack the bear directly since they had just seen it devour the lightning bolts from the Lightning Clouds. Instead, they made sure the bear wouldn't have any access to lightning and prepared to block eventual counterattacks that would be lightning-based.
On the way over, a middle-aged man with a rugged look who had personally fought against several demons and demonic beasts explained what he knew about them. Like how although demons mostly used pure demonic energy, a lot of demonic beasts could have an attribute to their demonic energy. And although it worked differently, human mages of the same attribute as the beast could interfere with the magic, just like how they would against a spirit beast or wild beast.
Thus, if they were prepared against the Demonic Spark Bear's obviously lightning-attributed attacks with their own lightning magic, the bear wouldn't be able to do anything against them.
That same middle-aged man was now shooting arrows imbued with aura at the Demonic Spark Bear, that despite the bear's tough hide, penetrated its body.
A couple of other mages fired balls of fire or tied the bear down using vines and tree roots that sprouted from the ground.
Since the Demonic Spark Bear's body looked powerful and well-suited for close combat, most of the ones attacking it did so from a distance. However, there was one exception. Rick.
He swung his mace overhead as he charged straight at the bear, struggling to break free from its bindings of wood.
With an impressive crunch, Rick sent the bear's head crashing down into the ground with a strike right between its horns.
The bear's head caved in, and the collision broke off several of its teeth. Although the Demonic Spark Bear was still alive. After Rick's attack, it would find it difficult to mount a resistance to the continuing onslaught of attacks. Although most mages and fighters attacking it were sixth level, the occasional seventh level, or Rick, the eight level branch manager of the Explorer's Guild, were enough to keep the eight level bear suppressed.
Eventually, the Demonic Spark Bear was confirmed dead. Its corpse was brought back to the city by most of the participants in the outing. While they went back to Sleepless Brights to tell the ones who remained about the demonic beast and begin splitting up the rewards from the corpse, two people stayed behind.
Rick stayed behind because he felt responsible for Toz. They had exchanged messages about what Toz thought was happening, and since Rick wasn't sure he could leave the city unprotected, he had asked Toz to investigate. However, if Rick had known that there would be high level demonic beasts involved, he wouldn't have asked Toz so lightheartedly and would have instead asked someone else or gone himself.
The other person who stayed in the forest was the rugged-looking middle-aged man. Since he had the most experience among everyone from the city when it came to demons and demonic beasts, he took it upon himself to investigate and look for their traces.
If the Demonic Spark Bear wasn't the only demonic beast summoned to Roaring Skies and was only used as a distraction for something else to sneak away, the entire plane could be in serious trouble.
Mond, as the middle-aged man was called, had experienced how devious the demons could be several times. He wasn't keen on experiencing it once again due to simple negligence on his part.
With Rick working together with him, Mond wasn't worried they would be unable to deal with another demonic beast, and they began by heading to the site of the summoning ritual.
Aside from looking for traces of other demonic beasts, the duo would also be looking for the identities of the ones responsible for summoning the Demonic Spark Bear. Or any evidence of collaborators within the city. Since summoning demons and demonic beasts was strictly prohibited and difficult, a single person doing it by themselves would be next to impossible.
Especially considering the knowledge required to perform a ritual. Gathering the proper materials, drawing a magic circle or enchanting or creating another medium, and then devising or using an appropriate spell were all things difficult to do individually, not to mention one person doing it all.
