The Author's POV

Clank—!

"Follow me."

Coming out of my cell, I followed a demon out.

Everything happened out of nowhere. I was just quietly relaxing in my cell, and before I knew it, a demon came to my room and called out for me.

I was quite clueless about where I was going, but I decided not to say anything and just followed along.

There was no point in asking questions that I would not get an answer to.

That, and...

The fact that I already had an idea of what was going on.

'This might actually be a good chance for me...'

Glancing toward my left and right, as I followed the guard, I realized that the security was fairly lax.

There didn't seem to be many demons patrolling the area, and to make matters even stranger was the fact that my mane wasn't sealed.

It had to be noted that the demon in front of me was ranked lower than me. If I wanted to, I could kill him with a simple slap.

Not that I had any plans on doing that since I had a goal in mind.

Finding Amanda's dad.

Furthermore, I was sure that the security-only looked lax. In reality, it was probably extremely tight. Had this not been the case, many of the prisoners would've long escaped.

Tok. Tok.

The steady and calm of our footsteps echoed throughout the corridors. The corridors were pretty badly maintained as I could see cracks everywhere. Not only that, but they were also quite narrow, forcing me to move sideways sometimes.

To make matters worse, lingering in the air was an old and stuffy smell.

"We're here."

Walking for who knows long, we soon stopped in front of a large metallic door. Standing beside the door were a couple of demons.

With a simple nod, the demon walked toward the door.

To Tok—!

He then proceeded to knock on the door.

For the first couple of seconds, he was met with no response. However, this did not last for long as the door soon started to open.

Clank—!

Once the door was half-opened, I was finally able to catch a glimpse of what was behind it.

A luxuriously decorated room that far contrasted the shabby room I was previously staying in. A nice red carpet blanked the floor, and all sorts of decorations appeared in the room. From sofas to paintings and other things that would make one drool at the sight.

'So this is how the top rankers live...'

Gazing at the room for a bit, my line of sight paused on a few individuals inside the room. After a quick look, I was able to assess that they were the top rankers of the Duke bracket.

It was hard not to notice them. The pressure that their bodies emitted was quite frightening. It was at a level where I needed to take them seriously if I wanted to win.

Not that I showed it outwardly as I kept a straight face and stepped into the room.

The moment I stepped into the room, I felt everyone's gazes pause on me, carefully scrutinizing every part of my body. Not bothered by them, I calmly walked toward where the sofas were and leisurely sat down.

Crossing my legs and leaning back, I opened my mouth.

"So..."

I looked at everyone in the room.

"What did you guys want to talk about?"

"..."

Silence.

No one in the room said a word as they continued to stare in my direction.

It was then that someone finally spoke up.

to

four feet in height with a long ginger beard was a

"Herr...Herr...not bad."

his hand, he

Rank five in the

Reaper, Rank thirty

shook his hand back. As I did, I suddenly smelt a foul order

'His breath stinks.'

tried my best to not make any strange faces. His breath was simply

"White Reaper."

for me. Turning my head, I found an elven lady staring in my direction. She had a rather long scar tracing down her face, and I could feel hints of insanity in her eyes.

stared straight into

"You are?"

"Rank two, Silvermoon."

replied in a disinterested

you know why we've

"Somewhat."

in the room became even more

we've called you, then what do you think? Will

I smiled.

'Group, huh?'

this group was all about. It was

top ten spots, and support the current Emperor

a chance to respond, she took a step to the side and extended

potential, don't let it rot in this place. Only if you join a group like ours can you have

with conviction and resoluteness. Had I not been warned beforehand, I might've even

"Oh..."

gave her a half-hearted

elf changed when she noticed the

Do you by chance happen to know

"I do."

I nodded.

Of course, I did.

the very first day

goal in mind, the games would be a lot more entertaining

disinterested. Are you

a powerful pressure sprung out from her body before heading in

just not interested

sudden, I was caught off-guard a bit. Even then, I retained

with bloodthirsty looks, I leaned

want me to

SilverMoon instantly disappeared.

"Much better."

her hands together, she cut straight

"Lose your next game."

"Hm?"

head

"Lose my next game?"

"That's correct."

on a certain individual standing not so far

'He's big...'

room, but now that I took a closer look at him, there was this sense of dread coming out from his

contrast to the others in the room, the bloodthirsty aura coming

"Skull Crusher."

have to be a fool to not have been able to

his body was simply terrifying. Even for me, it was quite pressurizing. It felt as though I was back in Issanor, in the presence of the orc's number

my words,

looks like

next to the orc, she patted

next opponent, and someone who you will lose

"I don't need this."

off, Skull Crusher

in our next match. I can easily get rid of

be right, but rules

to look in

own good. If you're interested in ever becoming free, then this is your

her brows knit for a couple of seconds. She then

said, any one of us in the room is enough to crush you. It is in your best interest

direction. Her face was

do you say, will you

her extended

"Tempting..."