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."

and Kevin

"Good."

in satisfaction. Her

Rustle—! Rustle—!

was heard at that moment, and Melissa noticed Amanda

"What are you doing?"

"The obvious."

frown to appear on

"Sounds annoying."

"It's the only way."

from Kevin's and Melissa's

Kevin turned to look at Melissa

"…Where is she going?"

"To get some information."

she crossed her arms and sat

look at

a better understanding of the building's infrastructure and Ren's

from Melissa to understand Amanda's next set of

she had let emotions get the best of her not too long ago, now that she

was happy

than two idiots

"Alright."

point, Kevin turned back to

information gathering. This is

"Alright."

out, Melissa took out a set of equipment from his dimensional space

hands

continue what

***

"Earth?"

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

peak overlooking the distance, he caught a glimpse of several

"Demons…"

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

"Where am I?"

he stared at the demons and structure in

still in the demon world? But how

remembered leaving with

"How strange."

pupils lit with a yellow hue as the world

guarding the door appear to

a frown emerged

the presence of a couple of Marquis

looked rather lethargic in his eyes. Perhaps the demon

exactly tell, but from what he was seeing,

"How troublesome…how troublesome…"

his face with his hand, a sword sheath materialized

them now would truly be a stupid

glimmer of light appeared in his eyes and

Crack—! Crackle—!

zoomed all the

"Who's there!?"

"Intruder!"

startled the two demons guarding

no need to be this

in the air as he muttered. However, his words did

his

I didn't warn

Click—!

resounded as the heads of the two demons fell to

Thud. Thud.

strolled into the gates of the building where a long and

same, this will

corridor and his bright yellow pupils shined in the midst

of tweaks, and might be different from what he showed me, but

to himself, Liam's figure soon disappeared into the

***

the dense

was being too