The Author's POV

According to the information that was provided to me by the demons, there were a total of eight treasuries situated across the surface of this planet.

'It's possible that there are more, but that's all the information that the demons shared with me. It remains to be seen in the future whether or not that is the truth or not.'

"Is this the main castle?"

I came to a halt to look into the distance, where an enormous and eerie black castle appeared in my vision.

A gentle breeze that persisted in the air caused several slender bridges, which were connected to large rocky and steep cliffs, to sway lazily in the air.

The bridges established a connection between the cliffs and the castle, which was perched in the middle of a rocky pillar that was surrounded on all sides by nothing but emptiness. Its imposing structure and design filled me with admiration.

It was nothing short of a structural masterpiece.

'...Fortunately, I can now fly. If not for that fact, I would've had trouble crossing those bridges.'

The thought of crossing those thin bridges that connected to the castle sent shivers down my spine. The scenery was not for the faint of heart.

Turning to look at the demon beside me, I nudged with my head.

"Alright, bring me in."

"Yes."

With a flap of his wings, the demon flew in the air and went straight for the castle. Staring at his figure from where I stood, I turned to look at Amanda beside me. A complicated look appeared on my face.

"...You won't have trouble getting over there, will you?"

"No."

Amanda gently shook her head before she removed a small necklace from her neck and put it away. A powerful energy fluctuation spread across the area we were in and her body started to gently levitate.

I grew bitter when I saw this scene.

"Why did you hide the fact that you've broken through to rank?"

To be honest, it came as a shock to me to know that she had already broken to rank before I knew it. I only found out recently, and it came to me as a great surprise.

"Come, let's get going."

Amanda's soft voice echoed inside my head. I shook my head and gently floated in the air. I followed her after that.

The distance between the cliff and the castle wasn't too far. It took us just about five minutes to get there.

"It's bigger than I thought."

It wasn't until my feet were firmly planted on the ground that I realized how massive the castle really was. The height of the castle, which was well over five hundred feet, was comparable to that of a typical skyscraper.

The entire area around the castle was shrouded in a black mist, making the castle look extremely eerie.

The demon from earlier was there, and he was waiting for Amanda and me in front of a large and imposing door.

"Please follow me."

The demon appeared reluctant to look directly at me, as evidenced by the way he bowed his head. Exchanging glances with Amanda, we both entered the premise of the castle.

The exterior appearance of the castle was strikingly different from the appearance of the interior of the castle, which featured extremely high ceilings, luxurious decorations, paintings, and statues that gave the impression that the space was extremely clean and well organized.

'Sort of reminds me of my mercenary headquarters.'

I had lost count of the number of times I had been insulted because of its outward presentation.

"We're here."

Before I knew it, we had arrived in front of a massive metal gate that reached all the way to the top of the building.

The surface of the metal door appeared to be engraved with a number of different symbols and runes that were unknown to me and based on the material that was used, I could more or less tell that I couldn't force my way through the door using brute force.

a

was on the other side, but seeing how thick

at the

you

"Eh?"

at me with

pointed at the large gate in front of

me? How do I open the

"This..."

showed a troubled look as he looked toward his right and left. In the end, realizing that there was no one present, he trembled slightly as he lowered his

previous leader knows how to open the door. My ranking

"That's enough."

to stop the demon from

him a glance, I turned to focus my attention back

demon, there's no way he'd know how to open the

wasn't completely unprepared as I slowly took out a

"This..."

as a burst of demonic energy exploded into the air, making the demon

face paled considerably

around me, I calmly observed the orb that was

I didn't kill

to my mouth, much to Amanda's

"Ren you...!"

"Don't worry."

the orb inside my

Gulp-!

while since I've

"Ukh."

in the corner of my eyes, and I felt a tightening in the back of my throat. Grabbing a bottle of water from my dimension space, I chugged it down in one swift motion, making it easier for the orb to move down

"Haaaa..."

swallowing the orb inside of my mouth, I massaged my throat for

'It hurts...'

"You okay?"

me as she bent down

my throat,

It just

coughed a couple of

I took a deep breath and

"Come out."

"Ren?"

confused Amanda as she cocked her head

that everything was fine, and then I channeled some of

as I directed my mana toward the core, the core began to shake, and it didn't take long before it began

I once again

"I said come out."

my tone was a lot deeper than

speak again, the air around us started to

"Hiiek!"

appearance of the figure prompted the count-ranked demon to shriek

muttered in

"Y...your Dukeship!"

my face as I stared at the figure that

my mouth,

"It's been a while."

***

Monolith headquarters.

the glass panels of his office and stared into the distance. For an unknown period of time, he continued to stare into

someone entered the room that

"How are the preparations?"

"Everything is going smoothly."

home as he sat down on one

side of the couch, his