The Author's POV

Rumble—! Rumble—!

The cosmos began violently trembling, and the nebulae visible in the space above the islands began to warp and enlarge at an accelerated rate.

Everyone within the Pillar became startled at the unexpected development, and they immediately stopped whatever they were doing and looked up. Toward the source of the chaos.

'What's happening?'

The most concerned was Prince Letvia who looked up with a serious expression.

Unlike the others, he was the most familiar with the structure of the pillar, and for it to shake this much, it was obvious that someone was breaching it from the outside.

'How is it possible for someone to be outside? Didn't his majesty…'

A sudden thought crossed the Prince, and his pupils constricted. He quickly shook his head, dispelling such a thought from his mind.

'No, it's impossible. There must be another explanation.'

Perhaps His Majesty had made a mistake…

If that was even possible?

However, the more the Prince contemplated it, the more he came to the conclusion that such a scenario was extremely improbable.

He refused to acknowledge such a scenario.

Rumble—! Rumble—!

The world that was contained within the pillar continued to shake, and Prince Letvia began to feel an increasing amount of unease regarding the unexpected circumstance.

Such nervousness, however, didn't last for very long, as his eyes became sharp moments later. His shoulders quickly relaxed, and power started to course through his body.

'Worst comes, I'll deal with it.'

He looked around him and could feel the power that was coursing through his body. As he did so, his body began to float upward gently, and he looked behind him, where a number of other demons were.

"Follow me; we're going to be greeting a guest."

His voice was soft, but it had a certain tone to it that made the demons behind him unable to refute his words as they floated up and followed him from behind.

Cr…crack!

Not even a second after, his words faded, and the space above cracked.

The crack in the sky began to widen, exposing a blue sky, and light began to pour through it, enveloping everything that was below it.

Shortly after, two figures emerged from behind the azure-colored sky. A hazy black figure and what appeared to be a human woman.

Appearing from behind the crack, they immediately attracted the attention of all those within, and everyone's gaze fell on them.

"Who do we have the honor of meeting?"

Meeting them, Prince Letvia placed his hand over his chest and bowed ever so slightly.

His polite actions attracted the attention of those around him as they turned to look at the two guests with renowned interest.

Even without taking into account the fact that they were able to create a crack in the pillar, the fact that the Prince was treating them with such respect indicated that they were not typical people.

"…"

It was unfortunate that the new party didn't answer as their gaze wandered around the world.

area would come to a sudden standstill as a tangible pressure enveloped the area. If it wasn't clear

the hazy figure was, they carried an immense amount of power

'Strange…'

this was happening, the Prince was

noticed was that the human woman was weak. She

felt a threat coming from him, and his expression stiffened

appeared from

Wouldn't that mean?

this possible? There's no way

again forced himself to dispel such dangerous thoughts from

that I can help

Prince wanted to resolve this peacefully. Just standing

pressure bearing down on him. He wasn't particularly afraid of the power, but he did want

"Is this enough?"

of a sudden, the hazy figure spoke, and

So...

"Eh?"

was he talking to?

slowly extended his palm,

"This!"

orbs in an instant, and his pupils constricted rapidly the moment he caught sight of them as chills ran

"How is this possible!?"

what he was

he wasn't hallucinating, and when he realized

"That… "

head to stare

possible?! How would his majesty allow

Spurt—!

never able to

of it, he saw a certain hand piercing through his chest and dark blood dripping down toward the ground

was horrified

"Y..you…"

his head to stare at the culprit, he was shocked to see that the

"W..why…?"

been directed at him

specifically, the orbs in

"That's more than enough."

Prince understood what had happened, and his entire expression started

'Traitor!'

more than anything, it was someone who betrayed their

but he was far from dead. If he wanted to, he could still drag everyone down

"Stop."

could even think of doing anything, an ancient voice reverberated through the air, and time stood

body came to a halt in the middle of nowhere as golden runes

"H-huh?"

he was familiar with. One he'd

"How?"

his mind as the situation turned once more. Sadly, they were questions he'd never get to know the

that you didn't suffer like

his head entirely. Prince Letvia wanted to resit, but under the restraint he was under, he was helpless. Given time and without injuries, he would've been able to escape, but alas, the situation made it impossible for him to

"Ehk."

grasp his face, the Prince's vision grew dark. After that, a certain force within him escaped out of his body and began making its way slowly toward the

'No…'

wanted to scream. Get away from the grasp, but

'It's over.'

he imagined that he, who stood at the