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!"

the demon scattering away with an

"Octavious!"

Gervis' eyes sharpened, and the ray gun in his hand flickered with

process that took several seconds, and under normal circumstances, it would have been difficult to pull off this move; however, he

Clank—! Clank—!

trouble gathering up the mana required to charge the weapon, and his weapon flickered even more wildly

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

with his gathering process, but with Octavious next to him, it

"Now!"

and Octavious disappeared from where he

powerful beam shot out of the gun in the direction of the demon, who

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

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

demons that managed to dodge, but they were in

"Shit."

that he hadn't killed all of the demons, Gervis cursed and reloaded his

felt something dangerous

WHIIING—!

attack

"Careful!"

again, a loud shout echoed behind him, and

another first, and circular pressurized wind rings spread from the point of contact between

"Ukh!"

powerful that Gervis was

he was surprised to see Octavious

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

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

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

movements were swift, and pressing the trigger, a beam composed of mana shot directly toward the demon, who was

Spurt—!

Octavious needed. After materializing behind the demon,

Wooom—!

the demon's body vanished into thin air, leaving behind a dark

for the core. He had just firmly grasped it in his hand when, all

Swoosh—!

"Uh?!"

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

voice that seemed to harmonize with the surroundings suddenly echoed,

Why can't I

that Octavious realized that

"I'll be taking this."

time, he was able to catch a

'He…'

hit him was the overwhelming

helpless days with the

that the only one who could ever reach the same level as the Protectors was the demon king,

eyes was one such existence, and

out from the demon, and the core in its hand started to

my

the tone of their

were indeed