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."

Kevin to nod

"Good."

Her face

Rustle—! Rustle—!

at that moment, and Melissa noticed Amanda

"What are you doing?"

"The obvious."

prompting a frown

"Sounds annoying."

"It's the only way."

from Kevin's and Melissa's

direction, Kevin turned to look at Melissa

"…Where is she going?"

"To get some information."

crossed her arms and

at Kevin, she

building's infrastructure and Ren's and the others' conditions, she'll probably abduct

took a simple glance from Melissa to

of her not too long ago, now that she had calmed down,

was happy with

be more than two idiots at

"Alright."

Melissa's point, Kevin turned back to look at

while Amanda takes care of the information gathering. This is so that I can react if anything outside

"Alright."

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

her hands together,

continue what we were

***

"Earth?"

pyramid in the distance. He could feel the thick demonic energy emanating from the large light above

overlooking the distance, he caught a glimpse of several

"Demons…"

on their heads, Liam was able to instantly guess what the creatures were. They were

"Where am I?"

at the demons and structure in the distance, Liam was

perhaps still in the demon world? But how could that

leaving

"How strange."

a yellow hue as the world around him zoomed, and the world around him

door appear to be

couple of times, a frown

can also feel the presence of a couple of Marquis ranked demons inside..a

his eyes.

he was seeing,

"How troublesome…how troublesome…"

his hand, a sword sheath materialized

them now would truly be a stupid idea…a very stupid

glimmer of light appeared in his eyes and lightning cracked around him at

Crack—! Crackle—!

zoomed all the

"Who's there!?"

"Intruder!"

sudden appearance startled the two

hey, there's no need to be

did not seem to reach the demons'

his eyes

me I didn't

Click—!

the two demons fell to the ground without him moving from the

Thud. Thud.

towards Liam's feet, he kicked the head to the side and strolled into the gates of the

not the same, this will do

his bright yellow pupils shined in the midst

tweaks, and might be different from what

figure soon disappeared into

***

dense foliage, Amanda

was being too