The Author's POV

"Looks like I'm not too late, no?"

Brushing my hair back, I moved to where Liam was. In my right hand was a small silver sword. It was a spare sword that Kevin had handed me before separating from me.

"Just a little…"

Liam's words left me speechless. Especially after he took out an apple and started to take bites out of it.

While he took a bite of the apple, the juices from it spilled all over his fingers before falling onto the ground.

I shook my head when I saw this.

"Here."

I handed him a potion.

"I don't need it."

"Hm?"

Catching the potion, Liam threw it back to me. His actions surprised me as I blinked a couple of times, unable to fully understand why he rejected the potion when he was clearly not in a good state.

Seemingly being able to read my thoughts, Liam raised his hand and showed me the apple.

"You see, this isn't a normal apple."

Standing up, his broken foot magically started to twist and squirm. Within the span of a couple of seconds, his leg had completely healed and he lightly jumped in the air.

"See? I'm fine."

Liam threw what remained of the apple on the floor and turned to gaze in the direction of where the demon was.

I did too.

"…Another intruder?"

Unfortunately, my surprise attack didn't seem to have had much of an impact on the demon, as he appeared to be completely unscathed.

The situation was made worse by his apparent anger, as his face twisted savagely and a powerful force enveloped the scene. Currently, we were standing in a small hall, with tall pillars supporting the ceiling.

A smoky and iron-like scent lingered in the air.

"Not bad…not bad…"

The demon spat through his clenched teeth as he alternated his gaze between Liam and I. Then, looking toward the other demons present in the room, he finally noticed something.

"Dead…"

The aura that was revolving around his body fluctuated slightly.

A thin smile spread across my face when I noticed this.

'I was right to kill the others first.'

It had been quite a bit since I had arrived here, and during the time that I was here, I spent my time killing all the demons that were in the room.

None of the demons in the room were that strong, but they still posed a liability that could cause trouble in the middle of the fight, which was why I decided to kill them before saving Liam.

'The others should also be attracting the attention of the other high-ranked demons…'

having separated from the others who went for the core of the mana compressor, I knew that they would attract the

that he really needed any since he was already a lot

"Where is everyone?"

one as the Duke ranked demon

it was right at this moment that I

'Let's go.'

our task was even before we spoke as mana erupted from my body and

[Shadow Servant]

step forward, a black disc formed beneath my feet, and I

Crackle. Crackle.

crackled around Liam's body, and his figure vanished from the spot,

he

SHIIING—!

on the other hand, pressed my

of the [Keiki style]

Click—!

as mine and Liam's attack

Clang—! Clang—!

the disappointment of Liam and I, the only thing we heard after our attacks landed was a

attacks with just an arm. Or,

do you think you're

voice echoed throughout the place as his

and powerful pressure suddenly sprang out from his body, forcing the two of us back, as the wings on his back expanded, casting

wings once. His figure disappeared from the spot before reappearing right in front of

of Chronos he was already a couple of inches away from my face,

'Shit.'

to myself as my heart tightened and cold sweat dripped down my

not to challenge a Duke ranked demon in

strength rapidly declining, the demon was still leagues

'Fucking Liam.'

even think he could fight against a Duke ranked demon? He was worse

even one second, I could

was trying to figure out the way out of the situation I found myself in, I noticed what looked like a sword tip

'Fast.'

I stared at the

noted that currently, time was flowing a lot slower than it was supposed to be. For the sword

couple of inches away from the demon's temple, I noticed the demon's eyes slowly moving towards where the sword was coming, and the

longer aiming to hit me, but rather, he was now trying to defend himself from Liam's sudden attack.

be too fast for the demon to stop, and it soon made contact with his temple and

returned to normal and I saw the demon's body crash into one of

Bang—!

"Haaa…haaa…"

supported his

'What just happened?'

I stared in Liam's direction with eyes full

Liam become

fought him, our strength was rather similar, however, right at this moment, he seemed a lot stronger than he

"You broke through?"

I noticed the pressure coming from Liam's body, at that moment, I

as I just speechlessly looked at

passed. Did he break through in that

How monstrous.

"Haaa…haaa…yeah."

head before placing his sword on the floor and facing the direction of where the demon