The Author's POV

Crash―!

Smallsnake wasn't sure what had happened. Just moments prior, he was under Jezebeth's grasp, and seconds later, he found himself in a large forest.

Blinking his eyes a couple of times, his mind regained some clarity, and he looked around him.

"Where is this?"

Looking at the unfamiliar environment, Smallsnake wasn't sure exactly where he was. The only thing he knew was that he wasn't anywhere near where Ren and Jezebeth were.

'Did he purposely send me here?'

He could still remember his last moments. It happened in an instant, but he understood that the one responsible for all of this was Ren.

…The other Ren.

Where exactly was the Ren he knew?

"Ugh."

With a sigh, he reached into his dimensional space and pulled out a white mask. It had been a while since he had worn it, but he knew that it was necessary if he wanted to blend in with the demons.

As he stared at the mask, he couldn't help but think about the past two years that he had spent with Jezebeth.

It had been a challenging experience, but it had also taught him a lot. Despite the fear and hatred that he had initially felt towards Jezebeth, he had come to understand him better and even found him tolerable.

While he looked terrifying on the outside, he wasn't as scary as Smallsnake originally thought him to be.

He was just… committed.

In his eyes, he only had one goal, and he was the type of person to do anything to achieve that goal, even using underhanded methods.

He seemed rather desperate, and that was when Smallsnake understood he wasn't too different from Ren.

"Haaa… Still, it's been a while since I felt like this…"

Bending down and resting both of his arms on his knees, Smallsnake caught his breath.

After two agonizing years, he was finally free. He felt a mixture of different emotions, and they all came so suddenly that he found himself unable to process them all.

He had a place to return, and that had been his goal since the very beginning.

From the very beginning, his actions had one goal. To get back home. Even if it resulted in him helping out the demons in the process.

At the same time that he helped them, he was also helping himself. Honing his skills and getting a better understanding of how the demons operated.

He made a name for himself, and the mask in his hand represented his status. His achievements.

His capabilities.

It represented who he was now, and it was something he held very dearly.

Slowly, Smallsnake placed the mask over his face, and he took a calm breath. Looking around the forest, he calmly stood up and, without further ado, headed toward the right side.

He could feel a few presences coming from there.

*

'…The problem is that none of us are strong enough to even come close to the Pillar Master. I don't even know if Ren is strong enough… maybe he is, but I'm not sure.'

'So long as the Pillar Master is alive, we are stuck here, and we can only hope for a miracle to happen.'

It was a set of familiar voices. Moving around the forest, Smallsnake's feet came to a sudden halt when he heard a set of familiar words.

sure if it was them, but at the moment, he felt his

Ba...Thump! Ba...Thump!

heart quivered at

Rustle―! Rustle―!

his gaze was immediately drawn toward a group of three, and his entire

He recognized them immediately.

No, upon closer

of them left

years… suddenly felt a lot longer than

It really

very moment, and his body trembled.

He…

dreamed many times and replayed this moment in his mind just as many

he stared at them, he found himself

there… unable to utter a single thing, and soon, his

hostile gaze

"Strategist."

***

her eyes warily staring at the man in front

confused as to who the person in front of them was, Angelica knew him all too well and

he seemed completely harmless… He reminded her of a

let his looks fool you,

times that he was someone else. Someone

gaze surveyed the

The majority of them were powerful, and she feared that

she was strong, she wasn't arrogant to the point

was still far from

like everything

so did her expression. After a thorough check, she

to engage in a fight with him yet. I'll see how this plays

him, she did think she could buy herself some time to think of a more plausible

you here,

as did Hein's and Ava's. Mouths agape, they stared at the

face, he opened his mouth and

a while,

all too

by

'Clean up after yourself!'

your clothes on the ground after

do you think

of bottled up emotions almost burst forth out of Ava and Hein, but they were held back

"Don't be fooled!"

shouted, her gaze

are! This is a

the fact that he resembled him visually, sounded like him, and

'It's not him!'

of her at the

You may be able to fool them, but you can't fool me.

gnashed teeth, and a terrifying presence burst out of her body, enveloping Smallsnake's body and sending him crashing against one of the nearby

Crash―!

shattered apart, and Smallsnake's body staggered against the ground before crashing against a large tree in the distance. Angelica's attack was so fast and abrupt that he didn't even have

would've been able to react in the first

"Angelica!"

"Angelica, wait!"

tried to hold

"Let go."

aback by Angelica's sudden shift in demeanor as they