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…'

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

needed any since he was already a lot stronger than

"Where is everyone?"

proved to be the correct one as the Duke ranked

it was right at this moment that I exchanged

'Let's go.'

was even before we spoke as mana erupted from my body and a dark shadow appeared

[Shadow Servant]

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

Crackle. Crackle.

crackled around Liam's body, and his figure vanished from the spot, before reappearing right in front of the

hand, he slashed toward the

SHIIING—!

pressed my hand against the hilt of my

of the [Keiki style] :

Click—!

light followed a clicking sound as mine and Liam's attack landed simultaneously on the

Clang—! Clang—!

much to the disappointment of Liam and I, the only thing we heard after

see the Duke rank demon blocking both of our attacks with just

you think you're

aged voice echoed throughout the place as his red pupils glared

back, as the wings on his back expanded, casting a large shadow over

wings once. His figure disappeared from the spot

by the time I had activated Eyes of Chronos he was already

'Shit.'

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

ranked demon in spite of the fact that it was already old,

strength rapidly declining, the

'Fucking Liam.'

even think he could fight against a Duke ranked demon? He was worse than Kevin when it came

I was careless for even one second, I could kiss goodbye to my

to figure out the way out of the situation I found myself in, I

'Fast.'

I stared

a lot slower than it was supposed to be. For the sword to be moving at the pace that

from the demon's temple, I noticed the demon's eyes slowly

was now trying to defend

stop, and it soon made contact with his temple and dug

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

Bang—!

"Haaa…haaa…"

as he supported his body with both knees

'What just happened?'

stared in Liam's direction with eyes full

has Liam become

right at this moment,

"You broke through?"

coming from Liam's body, at that moment, I realized

on me, as I just speechlessly looked

passed. Did he break through in that short week

How monstrous.

"Haaa…haaa…yeah."

sword on the floor and facing