The Author's POV

"We're here."

When I shut my eyes, I was able to perceive the barrier that blocked my path to the city that was directly in front of me, despite it being invisible from view.

Ohm―! I reached out my hand in front of me and stopped when I came into contact with something hard and smooth.

I was able to catch a glimpse of a tiny ripple that was forming around the area that I touched, and the ripple, to my relief, stopped moving a couple of meters away from where my hand touched.

"It's pretty strong."

Even though I hadn't put it to the test, I had a hunch that not even someone with an rank could break through the barrier in a single attack.

However, I couldn't say for certain since I hadn't tested it yet.

That being said…

Swoosh―!

When I shut my eyes and concentrated on a specific energy within my body, a dark hue centered over the palm of my hand, and I brought it forward in a slow, methodical manner.

…Nothing said that I needed to break the entire structure.

WOOOM―! After the thin film that was surrounding the city was cut cleanly through by my hand, I slowly brought my hand back down.

In that short moment, a small cut appeared on the barrier before me.

It was small, but it was still there.

'I can cut it.'

There was also a fair amount of resistance coming from the barrier, but it was nothing that I was unable to handle in any way. The only issue was that it was a rather slow process, as that single cut took quite a few seconds.

When I turned around to look at the others, I was taken aback to see that they had already surrounded me and were attentively observing the area around us.

'That's good.'

I smiled at the sight.

I had just been considering telling them to cover for me, but it didn't appear as though they required any kind of reminder.

With my back secured, I returned my focus to the barrier in front of me, and I brought my hand up.

'This'll take a couple of minutes.'

***

"The humans have started to breach the city; what should we do, your highness?"

"Nothing for now."

On top of a large structure, Prince Plintus was looking in a specific direction as he stood there gazing outward.

Even though it wasn't obvious, and there didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary happening, the Prince smiled as he lowered his head and stared at the orb that he held in his hand.

was going according to

don't want to startle our guests into thinking this is a trap

"Understood."

the Prince replied. Thinking of

Highness, what about

"Which ones?"

are surrounding the city outside.

"Nothing yet."

images within the orb shifted, and Prince Plintus's eyes

outside and were all waiting

currently hiding their identities with hoods, and although he was unsure

Human Domain, and he was aware that the most difficult opponent was the kid with the blue eyes who was attempting to enter and

Just that…

never get that

and fiddled with the

to get

rest on the human who was tampering with the barrier.

changed at the

have a

that a demon had betrayed them and had formed a contract with him. Prince Plinuts wasn't sure

torture the information out of him once I

his mind, the five of them were already in his

the demon that had betrayed them was and

the forces ready to ambush them. As soon as they settle, we'll attack

Plintus commanded, tearing his gaze away

blue eyes

Fwap!

his wings once,

***

"We're in."

finally able to carve out a space that was almost big enough to accommodate a

well,

my cheek, and I tried to catch

was a lot more tiring than I

"Here."

I was regaining my strength, I felt a coarse fabric on my face. I didn't need to look to understand what was happening because

"Thanks."

"Um."

away the towel, I noticed Amanda's nose crease ever-so-slightly as she looked at the

by the sweat from the towel, but it surprised me that she didn't throw it away

brief seconds, she had returned to her normal self and

neat freak

call

to myself before turning serious

once and meeting their gaze, I nodded my head. Only when all of

"Follow me."

the barrier, I was

sky was shrouded in thick clouds that blocked out the sun, casting a