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…'

from the others who went for the core of the mana compressor, I knew that they would attract the attention of a Marquis ranked demon, and in turn, stop any reinforcements from coming

that he really needed any since he was

"Where is everyone?"

decision proved to be the correct one as the Duke ranked demon seemed

moment that I

'Let's go.'

spoke as mana erupted from

[Shadow Servant]

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

Crackle. Crackle.

his figure vanished from the spot, before reappearing right in front of the Duke

he slashed toward

SHIIING—!

other hand, pressed my hand against

of the [Keiki style] :

Click—!

as mine and Liam's attack landed simultaneously on the

Clang—! Clang—!

I, the only thing we heard after our attacks landed

demon blocking both of our attacks with just an arm. Or, to be more precise, his bones, as he didn't

you think you're

the place as his

two of us back, as the wings on his back expanded, casting a large

his wings once. His figure disappeared from the spot before reappearing

so fast that by the time I had activated Eyes of Chronos he was already a couple of

'Shit.'

to myself as my heart

known better not to challenge a Duke ranked demon in spite of the fact that it was

its strength rapidly declining, the demon was

'Fucking Liam.'

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

careless for even one second,

I noticed what looked like a sword tip heading

'Fast.'

stared

be noted that currently, time was flowing a lot slower than it was supposed to be. For the sword to be moving at the pace that it was…it could only be described

couple of inches away from the demon's temple, I noticed the demon's eyes

trying to defend himself from Liam's sudden attack.

stop, and it soon made

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

Bang—!

"Haaa…haaa…"

happened, Liam appeared next to me as he supported his body with both knees

'What just happened?'

I stared in Liam's direction with eyes full

has Liam become so

last time that I had fought him, our strength was rather similar, however, right at this moment, he seemed a lot stronger than

"You broke through?"

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

finally dawned on me, as I just speechlessly looked

has passed. Did he break through in that

How monstrous.

"Haaa…haaa…yeah."

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