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!"

demon scattering away with an agonized

"Octavious!"

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

circumstances, it would have been difficult to pull off this move;

Clank—! Clank—!

mana required to charge the weapon, and his weapon flickered even more

around them,

to interfere with his gathering process, but with

"Now!"

disappeared

gun in the direction of the demon, who was unable to react in time and was struck

through every demon that it had a chance

that parted along the path of the beam, finally revealing what looked to be a forest with trees that

in the minority, as most of

"Shit."

killed all of the demons, Gervis cursed and reloaded his weapon before hastily

dangerous

WHIIING—!

attack missed

"Careful!"

a loud shout

Gervis as Octavious's fist clashed against another first, and circular pressurized wind rings spread from the point of contact between

"Ukh!"

Gervis was forced to take several

he was surprised to see Octavious standing before him with

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

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

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

mana shot directly toward the demon, who was

Spurt—!

to graze the demon, and that was all that Octavious needed. After materializing behind the demon, he pressed his hand against the creature's back and directed

Wooom—!

body vanished into thin air, leaving behind a dark core in

his hand when, all of a sudden, he felt a subtle breeze, and his entire body

Swoosh—!

"Uh?!"

dear subordinate of mine. I wouldn't want

the surroundings suddenly echoed, and Octavious's

Why

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

"I'll be taking this."

but at the same time, he was able to catch a glimpse of what the one responsible looked like, and his expression

'He…'

him was the overwhelming presence

Octavious was reminded of his helpless days with the Protectors and how strong they

who could ever reach the same level as the Protectors was the demon king, but it seemed

his very eyes was one such existence, and despair filled every inch

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

apologize for my incompetence,

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

were indeed