The Author's POV

"Hurry up Kevin, don't waste any more time."

The firm voice of Amanda echoed throughout the surrounding area as Melissa and Kevin stared at her, baffled.

'When was she ever like this?'

Simultaneously, they thought.

Ignoring their looks, Amanda urged.

"So?"

"Eh...ehm..."

In a state of shock, Kevin had no idea how to respond to Amanda's abrupt attitude shift.

He really had no idea...

"No."

When Kevin was about to say anything, Melissa covered her forehead with her hand and extended her other hand to cover his mouth.

In the distance, she glanced at the large pyramid and sighed.

"Going now would do more harm than good."

"What do you mean?"

Kevin and Amanda simultaneously looked at Melissa. They were both wondering what her words meant.

A second sigh escaped Melissa's lips as she stared at them both.

Bringing her arms towards the leaves and pulling them away, she glanced at the pyramid in the distance and asked.

"Kevin, you said that Ren and the others are currently inside of the mana compressor, right?"

"That's right."

Kevin nodded his head.

Bringing his arm out to push some leaves away, he also gazed at the nearby pyramid.

Beside him, Amanda leaned forward a bit to get a better look. In the meantime, Melissa continued to speak.

"Currently, my best guess is that Ren and the others are inside the building not because they infiltrated it, but rather because they are imprisoned there."

"But if it's Re—"

"Shut up."

Melissa extended her hand and stopped Kevin from interrupting her. Her glare and her stern voice were enough to stop Kevin from speaking as he nodded his head.

Massaging her chin, Melissa pondered for a bit before continuing.

"…Let me finish before you say some of your usual nonsense."

She brushed the side of her hair behind her ear.

"According to how mana compressors work, especially ones of this size, I would guess they are currently somewhere beneath the pyramid, trying to fuel the device."

As with any large machine, it consumed a lot of fuel when it was running, and Melissa estimated that the pyramid in the distance consumed a lot of energy.

Large enough that it needed a lot of cores and ores in order to fuel.

Her conclusion was that if Ren and the others were truly in the compressor, they would have gone into labor to fuel the compressor.

"We would not only bring trouble to ourselves, but we would also bring trouble to them if we left now."

Melissa shook her head, letting go of the leaves that soon returned to their usual position, blocking her view of the pyramid.

"I was only half joking when I previously said that they should be sacrificed. I mean, Emma and Jin are pretty important people. Their death would bring me quite a lot of trouble…"

Biting her nail, Melissa looked at Kevin and Amanda.

"In any case, you two have heard my analysis. You should now know better than to act rashly and teleport yourselves there."

Amanda and Kevin to nod their heads

"Good."

patted her hands in satisfaction. Her face was adorned

Rustle—! Rustle—!

moment, and Melissa

"What are you doing?"

"The obvious."

frown to

"Sounds annoying."

"It's the only way."

from Kevin's

staring in Amanda's direction, Kevin turned

"…Where is she going?"

"To get some information."

she crossed her arms and

look at

understanding of the building's infrastructure and Ren's and the others' conditions, she'll

only took a simple glance from Melissa

not too long ago, now that she

was happy with

be more than two

"Alright."

back to look at the structure in the

watch of the pyramid while Amanda takes care of the information gathering.

"Alright."

sorted the situation out, Melissa took out a set of equipment from

her hands together,

continue what we were

***

"Earth?"

the large black miasmic pyramid in the distance. He could feel the thick demonic energy

a peak overlooking the distance, he caught a glimpse of

"Demons…"

their heads, Liam was able to instantly guess what the

"Where am I?"

on earth, but as he stared at

perhaps still in the demon world? But how could

leaving

"How strange."

yellow pupils lit with a yellow hue as the world around him

guarding the door appear to be Viscount ranked

times, a frown emerged on Liam's

can also feel the presence of a couple of Marquis

looked rather lethargic in his eyes. Perhaps the demon

couldn't exactly tell, but from what he was seeing, it looked

"How troublesome…how troublesome…"

face with his hand, a sword sheath materialized in his

truly be a stupid idea…a

appeared in his eyes and

Crack—! Crackle—!

body zoomed all the way to

"Who's there!?"

"Intruder!"

sudden appearance startled the two demons

there's no need

as he muttered. However, his words did not seem to reach the demons' ears as demonic

saw this, his eyes twinkled with

tell me I didn't warn

Click—!

as the heads of the two demons fell

Thud. Thud.

the head to the side and strolled into

it's not the same, this

corridor and his bright yellow pupils

take a couple of tweaks, and might be different from what he showed me,

himself, Liam's figure soon disappeared into

***

dense foliage,

being too