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!"

with an agonized scream, Octavious retrieved his

"Octavious!"

Gervis' eyes sharpened, and the ray gun in his hand flickered with a green light as a powerful

took several seconds, and under normal circumstances, it would have been difficult to pull

Clank—! Clank—!

charge the weapon, and his weapon flickered even more wildly as a large hue enveloped the area they were

around them, leaving behind only the powerful

with his gathering process, but with Octavious next to him, it was of no

"Now!"

shouted, and Octavious disappeared from where he

the gun in the direction of the demon, who was unable to react in time and was struck head-on as

it had a chance

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

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

"Shit."

and reloaded his weapon

felt something dangerous

WHIIING—!

his attack

"Careful!"

reload his gun again, a loud shout echoed behind him, and

A powerful force erupted from behind Gervis as Octavious's fist clashed against another first, and circular pressurized wind rings

"Ukh!"

so powerful that Gervis was forced to take

himself, he was surprised

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

spite of his labored breathing, he appeared to be completely unharmed, which was not the case for

waste a single second and pointed his gun toward the demon in front of

and pressing the trigger, a beam composed of mana shot

Spurt—!

that was all that Octavious needed. After materializing behind the demon, he

Wooom—!

mana swept across the surroundings, and the demon's body

He had just firmly grasped it in his

Swoosh—!

"Uh?!"

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

that seemed to harmonize with the surroundings suddenly echoed, and Octavious's entire body stiffened on

Why can't I

much to his horror that Octavious realized that he couldn't move a single

"I'll be taking this."

hand lighten up, but at the same time, he was able to catch a glimpse of

'He…'

him was the

reminded of his helpless days with the Protectors and how

ever reach the same level as the Protectors was the demon king, but it seemed like he

demon that stood before his very eyes was one such existence, and

the core in its hand started to shake. Shortly thereafter, the core jumped out of its

for my incompetence, Prince

their head lowered. One could tell from the tone of their voice that they truly felt

were indeed