The Author's POV

It felt as if time had frozen. My mind blanked. My blood froze. My breathing quickened. My pupils dilated.

...I thought I was prepared.

Since reincarnation inside of my novel, I knew that one day I would encounter a demon.

I was ready...I thought

But looking at the creature haughtily sitting on the throne, hallucinations of death repeatedly replayed in my mind.

'I have to run!'

...I repeated again and again in my mind.

I knew that...yet my legs refused to listen to me

Ba...dump! Ba...dump!

The hall was silent, and only the sound of my heartbeat repeatedly pulsing could be heard.

Sweat started dripping down from my body, soaking all my clothes. With a shivering hand, I tightly clenched on my clothes, right where my heart was.

What's this...?

...Am I scared?

'There's no way I can fight against that!'

...was what my mind repeatedly told itself as my eyes transfixed themselves onto the demonic creature that was amusingly looking down on me from the throne. With its blood-red eyes, the demon looked down at me as it smiled widely.

"It seems like a little mouse has sneaked inside my abode"

Licking its lips, the demon eyes carefully looked at me up and down, almost as if a delicious snack had presented itself before it.

-Crack! -Crack! -Crack!

Using its thumb, the demon slowly cracked every one of its fingers on its right hand.

"huuuuu...."

Letting out a long breath I forcefully tried to calm myself down.

'This is all an illusion!'

What I was experiencing was the innate fear a prey faced when meeting a predator.

If I thought about it rationally, although my opponent was strong, it wasn't to the point that I would have to despair.

Yes...

The demon's stats couldn't be above F rank, else the dungeon would've already desynced.

The fear I was experiencing was all in my mind.

I didn't have to fear what was before me.

...was what I repeatedly tried to tell myself, yet I still couldn't stop my body from trembling.

The feeling I was experiencing was similar to the moments before I took my final exams.

I knew I could do it, as I had prepared rigorously for it...but even if I was prepared, it didn't stop me from being scared.

"How cute..."

Amusingly looking down on me, the Demon leaned forward as its red eyes carefully looked at me.

Instantly, it felt as if all my secrets had been laid bare for the demon to look at. It felt as if nothing could be hidden from its two prying blood-red eyes.

"G rank..."

-tap! -tap! -tap!

Shaking its head disappointedly the Demon began tapping on the armrest of the throne as it started pondering.

Finally, after a couple of seconds, the Demon shook its head in disappointment.

"Too bad, too bad..."

with a decision, the demon's demeanor completely changed from its leisurely self

thick bloodlust exuded from its body, suffocating

"Let me introduce myself..."

-Fwap!

up, the demon's large bat-like wings expanded from its back casting

smiling from ear to ear, the demon elegantly

"I am—baron of everblood!"

...

leisurely walked. His hair which was tied in

the people that were next to him stepped to the side to let him walk. Despite his looks, he was treated

-Ding!

a small vibration

-Ding!

-Ding!

-Ding!

"...Hm?"

thinking that it was nothing important, his pocket started

man

black box, the middle-aged man's brows knit

may be more troublesome

reappeared in front of a gate with the number <<756>> imprinted on the

"Stop right there"

soon as he appeared, two

Timothy 2...I don't have time for this

was in fact, Thomas. Taking out the

to the side and allowed Thomas

disappeared once

hope

the two guards heard before Thomas disappeared from their

...

"B-baron o-f everblood!"

you replaced a rusty gear, everything started to click into

the vanity tribe, sub-branch of the demon clan

existence that only appears right before the third cataclysm in the later half

'W-hy was he here?'

was not something a G

King, Prince/Princess, Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and lastly

Demon prince and Demon princess had a power level equivalent to around SSS, in terms of human power level. Following Prince/Princess ranked demons, were Duke-ranked demons whose power level was around SS, the same as the strongest humans alive. After Duke-ranked demons were Marquis-ranked demons at a power level of around S followed by Earl-ranked demons at A, Viscount

power levels of

If a Prince/Princess ranked demon showed up, humanity would stand no chance as each rank increase was a substantial increase in

were keeping

humanity would've long gone

shock to know that I

mind that a Baron-ranked demon was four ranks higher than

felt so

thought as everything started to

But wait...

Baron-ranked demon, why didn't the dungeon

to me, causing

"Dungeon overload..."

"...Hm?"

the demon looked at me in

you know

I could see the demon looking at me in both

...as expected.

demon was actually trying to

involved a dungeon becoming oversaturated with energy. However, contrary to when dungeons desync, where the dungeon just loses connection to the demon world. In

monsters suddenly appearing out of nowhere. The consequences alone would

gone

added with the fact that the Demon King was currently being held back by various forces, the

the ultimate overlords of the universe, grew stronger the more planets it ate. Through its numerous exploits in which it conquered and ate planets, the Demon King grew into being one of the strongest creatures in the whole universe. It had gotten to the point that almost every race in the universe was forced to join

King was only one planet away from becoming the strongest being in the universe. Once it consumed one more planet, no being would be able to stop the Demon King. The world would be at the Demon King's mercy. Knowing this, many forces have joined together

King's ascension, there was another factor that prevented the demons from fully

was still unable

low mana density in the atmosphere, due to earth only have been exposed to mana recently, monsters couldn't

was why dungeon overloads weren't considered

cataclysm, when the earth's mana density reached a certain point, the event that marked the beginning of the third cataclysm happened...Suddenly, as the people on Earth were going about their own day, dungeon overloads started occurring in almost every dungeon around

out from the dungeons were able to adapt to earth's atmosphere and survive. Soon the earth was overturned into an apocalyptic world where law and order ceased to exist and only

you thought were your friends suddenly backstabbed you just to

was the beginning of the third

-Fwap!