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!"

an agonized

"Octavious!"

gun in his hand flickered

circumstances, it would have been difficult to pull off this move; however, he wasn't

Clank—! Clank—!

mana required to charge the weapon, and his weapon

out of the gun killed all the weaker demons around them, leaving behind only the

process, but with Octavious next to him, it was

"Now!"

Octavious disappeared from where

shot out of the gun in the direction of the demon, who was unable to react in time

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

the path of the beam, finally revealing what looked to be a forest

were in the

"Shit."

the demons, Gervis cursed and reloaded

something dangerous

WHIIING—!

attack missed

"Careful!"

again, a loud shout echoed behind him, and

erupted from behind Gervis as Octavious's fist clashed against another first,

"Ukh!"

wind was so powerful that Gervis was forced to take several

was surprised

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

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

wasn't one to waste time. Since the opportunity presented itself, he didn't waste a single second and pointed his gun toward the demon

trigger, a beam composed of mana shot directly toward the

Spurt—!

needed. After materializing behind the demon, he pressed his hand against the creature's back

Wooom—!

across the surroundings, and the demon's body vanished into thin air,

it in his hand when, all of a sudden, he felt

Swoosh—!

"Uh?!"

subordinate of mine. I wouldn't want him to die such

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

happened? Why can't I

his horror that Octavious realized that he couldn't move

"I'll be taking this."

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

'He…'

thing that hit him was the

before him, Octavious was reminded of his helpless days with the Protectors and how

as the Protectors was the demon king, but it seemed like he had made

very eyes was one such existence, and

in its hand started to

for my

could tell from the tone of their voice that they truly

were indeed