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..."

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

from its

"Let me introduce myself..."

-Fwap!

expanded from its back

forward, smiling from ear to ear,

"I am—baron of everblood!"

...

which was tied in a

to

-Ding!

small vibration from his pocket followed by

-Ding!

-Ding!

-Ding!

"...Hm?"

was about to ignore it thinking that it was nothing

man took

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

be more

middle-aged man disappeared from where he was standing and reappeared in front of a gate with the number <<756>>

"Stop right there"

two white-clad

don't have time for

man was in fact, Thomas. Taking out the small box from his pocket, Thomas

the box, the two guards immediately moved to the side and allowed Thomas to

Thomas disappeared once

just hope it's

guards

...

"B-baron o-f everblood!"

demon introduced itself, like when you replaced a rusty gear, everything started to click

of the vanity tribe, sub-branch of the demon clan of pride, and a

appears right before the third cataclysm in the later half of the

'W-hy was he here?'

Baron-ranked demon was not something a

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

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

approximate power

fend off at most against Duke-ranked demons. If a Prince/Princess ranked demon showed up, humanity would

Orcs were keeping the Prince/Princess ranked

for them, humanity would've long

shock to know that I was currently in front of

that a Baron-ranked demon was four ranks higher than

wonder I felt

as everything started

But wait...

it's a Baron-ranked demon,

causing

"Dungeon overload..."

"...Hm?"

the demon looked at

did you know

looking at me in both

...as expected.

actually trying

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

nowhere. The consequences alone would be disastrous...Fortunately, this was not a problem

a reason why humanity had still not gone extinct.

was, the Demon King was still unable to ascend into the world. Further added with the fact that the Demon King was currently being held back by various forces, the looming

Demon King grew into being one of

the universe. Once it consumed one more planet, no being would be able to stop the Demon King.

the Demon King's ascension, there was another factor that prevented the

army was still unable to adapt to the

earth only have been exposed to mana

dungeon overloads weren't considered

before the third cataclysm, when the earth's mana density reached a certain point, the event that marked the beginning of the third cataclysm happened...Suddenly,

upon entering the human world, the monsters that came out from the dungeons were able to adapt to earth's atmosphere and survive. Soon the

friends suddenly backstabbed

the beginning of the

-Fwap!