The Author's POV

The color blue dominated the world within the Pillar of Pride.

A hazy, dark blue mist covered the entire landscape, with small peaks sprouting from beneath the mist.

The world seemed tranquil, but within the blue mist, all sorts of colorful lights flashed from within.

They carried different hues, and they flashed continuously. It wasn't until the mist suddenly split apart to reveal several figures that the tranquility that lay within the world broke apart.

"Aarrrgh!"

A loud shout reverberated through the air, and a powerful wave of mana burst forth from Octavious's hand.

It directly shot toward a demon in front of him, and shortly after, the demon's figure disintegrated into nothing.

"..."

Silence returned to the world after that, and just as Octavious felt himself relax, an urgent voice rang from behind him.

"Behind you!"

Boom—!

He didn't have enough time to react, and before he knew it, a powerful force blasted past his back, and he found himself hurling forward, eventually crashing against the hard ground beneath.

"Akh."

Octavious groaned in pain, using both hands to help himself up.

SHIIING—! SHIIING—!

He could hear the sound of fighting behind him, and he just barely stopped himself from collapsing again. The force of the impact was a lot stronger than he had anticipated.

'I'm glad Gervis is with me.'

Who would've thought he'd have such thoughts? While he wasn't the same Octavious as in the past, he remembered everything that had happened in the past and didn't think he would work well with Gervis.

He was wrong.

"Oy! Are ya helping me or not?"

Gervis's voice broke him out of his thoughts, and Octavious disappeared from the spot, reappearing right in front of another demon. With his fist clenched, he threw a fist in the demon's direction, and a powerful blast reverberated through the air.

Boom—!

The demon's body hurled back several meters after the contact, and Octavious moved to where Gervis was.

SHIIING—! SHIIING—!

Wearing his armor, Gervis was currently dealing with two Prince ranked demons at once, and even though he seemed to be having a hard time, Octavious could tell he wasn't disadvantaged in the least.

With his large gun like device and powerful shield that activated whenever a demon appeared, he wasn't prone to sneak attacks, making things a lot easier for him.

His maneuverability was a bit questionable, but it wasn't anything to be worried about, considering the defensive mechanism installed in his suit.

Booom—!

Arriving before one of the demons hounding Gervis, Octavious thrust his fist forward, and just by a few inches, he managed to hit the demon in the abdominal area.

"Ueakh!"

away with an agonized scream, Octavious

"Octavious!"

demon crumbled into dust, Gervis' eyes sharpened, and the ray gun in his hand flickered with a green light as a

seconds, and under normal circumstances, it would have been difficult to pull off this move; however, he wasn't alone in this

Clank—! Clank—!

required to charge the weapon, and his weapon

around

but with Octavious next to him, it was of no

"Now!"

disappeared from where he

in the direction of

through every demon that it had a chance of meeting, and wherever it passed, it

path of the beam, finally revealing what looked to be a forest with trees that seemed to tower in

were some demons that managed to dodge, but they were in the minority, as most

"Shit."

cursed and

dangerous coming from

WHIIING—!

his attack

"Careful!"

a loud shout echoed

Gervis as Octavious's fist clashed against another first, and circular pressurized wind

"Ukh!"

powerful that Gervis was forced to take several steps

was surprised to see Octavious standing

"Ha... ha...haa... That..."

he appeared to be completely unharmed, which was not the case for the demon, who looked

to waste time. Since the opportunity presented itself, he didn't waste a single second

composed of mana shot directly toward the demon, who was only

Spurt—!

manage to graze the demon, and that was all that Octavious needed. After materializing behind the demon, he pressed his hand against the

Wooom—!

body vanished into thin air, leaving behind a dark

for the core. He had just firmly grasped it in his hand when, all of a sudden, he felt a subtle breeze, and

Swoosh—!

"Uh?!"

ask you to stop. He's a rather dear subordinate of mine. I wouldn't

suddenly echoed, and Octavious's entire body stiffened on

Why

horror that Octavious realized that he couldn't move a single

"I'll be taking this."

at the same time, he was able to catch a glimpse of what

'He…'

that hit him was the overwhelming presence he gave

his helpless days with the Protectors and how

could ever reach the same level as the Protectors

one such existence, and despair filled every inch

of a sudden, a black hue sprouted out from the demon, and the core in its hand started to shake. Shortly thereafter, the core jumped out of its hands, and

my

the tone of their voice that they truly felt remorseful about the

were indeed quite