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…'

for the core of the mana compressor, I knew that they would attract the attention of a Marquis ranked demon, and in turn, stop

was already a

"Where is everyone?"

be the correct one as the Duke ranked demon seemed taken

was right at this moment that I exchanged glances

'Let's go.'

was even before we spoke as mana erupted from

[Shadow Servant]

a black disc formed beneath

Crackle. Crackle.

Liam's body, and his figure vanished from the spot, before reappearing right

hand, he slashed toward the

SHIIING—!

on the other hand, pressed my

[Keiki style] : Quick

Click—!

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 our attacks landed was a strong metallic

Duke rank demon blocking both of our attacks with just an arm. Or, to be more precise, his bones, as he didn't seem to have any muscles in

do you

voice echoed throughout the place as

the two of us back, as the wings on his back

flapped his wings once. His figure disappeared

speed was so fast that by the time I had activated Eyes of Chronos he

'Shit.'

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

ranked demon in spite of the fact that it was already

the demon was still leagues above my

'Fucking Liam.'

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

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

out the way out of the situation I found myself in, I noticed what looked like

'Fast.'

thought as I stared at

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

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

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

the demon to stop, and it soon made contact with his

[Eyes of Chronos], time returned to normal and I saw the demon's

Bang—!

"Haaa…haaa…"

as he supported his body with both knees

'What just happened?'

as I stared in

when has Liam

our strength was rather similar, however, right at this moment,

"You broke through?"

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

finally dawned on me, as I just speechlessly looked

remember, only one week has passed. Did he break through in that short week

How monstrous.

"Haaa…haaa…yeah."

sword on the floor and facing