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

really needed any since he was already a lot stronger than

"Where is everyone?"

correct one as the Duke ranked demon seemed taken aback by

right at this moment that I exchanged glances

'Let's go.'

spoke as mana erupted from my

[Shadow Servant]

forward, a black disc formed beneath my feet, and

Crackle. Crackle.

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

his hand, he slashed toward the

SHIIING—!

hand, pressed my hand against the hilt

of the [Keiki style] :

Click—!

sound as mine and Liam's attack landed simultaneously

Clang—! Clang—!

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

was shocked to see the 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

you

sinister and aged voice echoed throughout the place as his red pupils glared

powerful pressure suddenly sprang out from his body, forcing the two of us back, as the wings on his back expanded, casting a large shadow over the area we were

wings once. His figure disappeared

of Chronos he was already a couple of inches

'Shit.'

my heart tightened

to challenge a Duke ranked demon in spite of the fact that it was already old, and almost

its strength rapidly declining, the demon was still

'Fucking Liam.'

could fight against a Duke ranked demon? He

second,

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

'Fast.'

thought as I stared at the

it was supposed to be. For the sword to be moving at the pace

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

but rather, he was now trying to defend himself from Liam's sudden attack. Apparently, it wasn't something

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

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

Bang—!

"Haaa…haaa…"

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

'What just happened?'

to myself as I stared in Liam's direction with eyes

when has Liam become

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

"You broke through?"

at that moment, I realized he was now

on me, as I just speechlessly

Did he break through

How monstrous.

"Haaa…haaa…yeah."

on the floor and