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

"Good."

in satisfaction. Her

Rustle—! Rustle—!

that moment, and Melissa noticed Amanda let go of Kevin's

"What are you doing?"

"The obvious."

frown to appear on Melissa's

"Sounds annoying."

"It's the only way."

then disappeared from Kevin's and

direction, Kevin turned to look

"…Where is she going?"

"To get some information."

replied while she crossed her

look at Kevin, she

gain a better understanding of the building's infrastructure and Ren's and the others' conditions,

a simple glance from Melissa

long ago, now that she had calmed down, she understood exactly

happy

two idiots at

"Alright."

turned back to look at

information gathering. This

"Alright."

of equipment from his dimensional space and carefully placed them in

her hands

what

***

"Earth?"

Liam scratched his head, he looked at the large black miasmic pyramid in the distance. He could feel the thick demonic energy emanating from the large light above the structure

peak overlooking the distance, he caught a glimpse of

"Demons…"

note of the horns on their heads, Liam was able to instantly guess what

"Where am I?"

but as he stared at the demons and structure

the demon

leaving with

"How strange."

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

guarding the door appear to

times, a

couple of Marquis

in his

but from what he was seeing, it looked to

"How troublesome…how troublesome…"

with his hand, a sword sheath

be

his eyes and lightning cracked around him at

Crack—! Crackle—!

body zoomed all the way to

"Who's there!?"

"Intruder!"

startled the two

hey, there's no need to

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

his eyes

tell me I didn't warn

Click—!

air, a subtle clicking sound resounded as the heads of the two demons fell

Thud. Thud.

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

it's not the same, this will do for

the corridor and his

be different from what he showed me, but it'll

figure soon disappeared into the

***

dense

was being