The Author's POV

Hearing Edward's brittle voice that was pent up with all his emotions, I smiled softly.

"Sorry, I had to take a little detour."

Clank—! Clank—!

With my sword unsheathed, I hacked at the chains that bound him and freed his arms and legs.

Following the release of the chains, he started to fall down. In response, I lowered my body and pressed my hand on his shoulder, preventing his fall.

"Are you okay?"

"…yeah."

Glancing at me, Edward had a bitter look on his face.

"It's been a while since I've moved, and with my mana sealed for this long, my muscles just gave out."

"It's alright. I'll help you out for now."

Supporting Edward's body up, I helped him out of the room. On our way out, Edward opened his mouth and asked.

"…Did you do it?"

His voice sounded rather weak and frail. Glancing at him from the corner of my eyes, I nodded.

"Yeah."

When I recalled my other self's conversation with the Duke, there were times when I was afraid that the deal would've fallen apart.

Especially during that time, my other self had threatened him.

If there was one thing you learned at the Lock about demons, it was never to threaten a demon belonging to the Pride clan.

If he hadn't been wary of the rumors about my strength, I would've been afraid he would have just attacked me then and there.

Fortunately, my other self knew when to back down, and from there was able to make a deal with the Duke.

Thankfully, I didn't have to give anything up. Initially, the Duke was against the idea of me keeping my stuff, but considering what he would gain, he eventually relented.

It wasn't every day he would get a core belonging to a Duke-ranked demon. Furthermore, with multiple alibis pointing out the fact that I had killed him, he could consume it without worrying.

No Duke would refuse such a tempting offer.

Well, it wasn't like my other self gave him any choice to begin with.

"Took you a while."

While I was carrying Edward on my shoulders, appearing right in front of us was Lightning Dragon.

His appearance shocked Edward as he looked at me.

"What is he doing here?"

Nodding in Lightning Dragon's direction, I glanced at Edward.

"He's our ticket out of the Demon Realm."

"Our ticket out?"

"Yeah. He knows of a portal that can lead us back to earth."

Edward's face relaxed as soon as he heard those words. Staring in Lightning Dragon's direction, he nodded his head.

"I'll be in your care."

"Don't worry about it."

Waving his hand to brush him off, Lightning Dragon took a couple of black robes from his dimensional space and handed them to us.

"For now it's best if you wear this."

"Sure."

"Okay."

Simultaneously nodding our heads, Edward and I took the hoodies and put them on.

This was something that the Duke had ordered.

Since he was planning on consuming the core, he couldn't let it seem as though he was working with me.

If it did, his plans would instantly crumble. Well, that was unless he decided to kill all witnesses, and realistically speaking, that was a bit more of a hassle than doing things this way.

"So…"

In the midst of putting on the robe, I suddenly heard Edward's voice.

I turned my head to look his way. Did he need something?

His next words made my expression harden.

"…I've been meaning to ask this for quite a while, but what's your relationship with my daughter?"

"Ehm…"

Scratching the side of my cheek, I carefully answered.

"The both of us attended the same academy, so we can say we're classmates."

Honestly, it was a bit more complicated than that, but my gut told me to leave it as it was.

"I see.."

As Edward raised the hoodie to cover his face, he nodded his head.

me

No

he walked up

his back,

incredible pressure coming out of

his mana or anything of

'Overprotective dad…'

followed him from behind and caught up with Lightning Dragon who looked at me with a strange look on

"What?"

in

a glare, I turned around

and let's go.

*

"This way…"

along with Edward and another

Dragon used to travel

to earth, there was only one way to get there, and that was through portal devices they created. Not only that, but they also needed to have

access the demon realm, the

to enter a dungeon was through

who was a little bit up

we have left till

"We're here."

Dragon abruptly

soon dawned on me that we were

my head to glance at Lightning Dragon

is

"Eh…"

embarrassingly

his surroundings, a wry smile appeared on

"…I forgot."

"Shit."

I heard his words,

forgot about his

telling me that he is the key to escaping the

one that told me that Lightning Dragon was the only one that could help me escape this

"You don't remember?"

voice echoed throughout the forest. Sharing the same dumbfounded look,

you say that you

"I did."

Dragon, no, Liam nodded his

that it's somewhere

on his face, he turned to look at the other figure that was with

of a way to

"...I can try."

disdain, the figure lowered his hood and displayed

can help out

lend a hand as he too started to look for the

of the threes, I

Duke had his own

order to set up a portal. And since the

was required in order to activate the portal, and since none of us could use it, the Duke had a demon

of the

"Haaa…"

the sky. Although I wanted to help, my body was still aching from the side effect of the skill,

hope

But...

hour eventually passed, and the results remained the same.

'How useless.'

me help out

I quickly scanned my surroundings. But upon realizing just

take

"I've found it!"

to start searching, I heard

then appeared in the distance

"You found it?"

a look filled with relief and excitement, Edward walked up to him before looking at the

"Can you activate it?"

"Yes."

suddenly sprang out from the demon's body as he started channeling it toward the

Crack. Crack. Crack.

black threads appeared in the air, and minuscule tearing sounds could be

minutes, a black portal started

significant amount of paleness appeared on the demon's face while the portal was forming. It was evident that it took him a lot of demonic energy to activate the portal.

"Haaa…haa…haa…I'm done."

breathing echoed throughout the forest. He

done a

to the demon, I calmly patted my

doing

Crack—

the demon in his abdomen area and broke his core before he could finish

same. I'm also doing

didn't want to do this, given the deal I made with the Duke, I had no

one could know about the fact that I struck a

was part of the agreement we

demon a few seconds to disintegrate after I cracked the core. But once he did, a breeze brushed past,

the demon died, I glanced toward the portal before turning my attention to the

It's

***

Duke Adramalech's voice.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

fingers over his desk, Duke Adramalech stared at a small letter in front

acquaintance of mine might come soon, give this to him if

"An acquaintance?"

he talking about?

back at the figure, the Duke decided

couldn't feel any strength from