The Author's POV

[Pillar of Greed]

It was dark and damp. A musty smell of damp earth and rocks filled Ryan's nostrils as his eyes slowly opened up.

Blinking a couple of times, he noticed that he couldn't quite see very far. The dim lighting around him made it difficult to see beyond a few meters. When he reached out with his hand, he felt a rough and uneven surface.

'A cave?'

That was the first thought that crossed his mind as he felt the sides of the walls.

Drip. Drip.

The sound of dripping water echoed in all directions in the space he was in, further reaffirming his original assumption.

"Hm?"

Right when he tried to move, he noticed that his feet were bound to something and that the little mana inside of his body had been completely sealed.

"Shit."

Letting out a curse, he squinted his eyes and noticed a small bracelet on his ankles.

They were firmly clamped at his ankles and were rather thick. About the size of his forearms and made it impossible for him to move properly.

'This is bad.'

He knew instantly that the situation was not good.

It was also at that moment that he recalled what had led to his sudden appearance over here, and his expression changed.

"Leopold?"

He called out, hoping to receive some sort of answer, but it was much to his dismay that he realized that he was the only person inside the cave.

"Crap."

Ryan started to worry a little.

Although Leopold was stronger than him, he didn't know what was currently happening and was understandably worried.

That being said…

"Huu."

All it took was a single breath for Ryan to calm himself down. He had been on many dangerous missions in the past, and this wasn't any different.

After calming himself down, Ryan closed his eyes and started to ponder over his options.

While he wasn't like Ren and didn't have a chip inside of his brain, he was still a genius in his own right.

Several different scenarios popped up in his mind, and it wasn't long before a plan formulated inside of his mind.

'Hmm, I guess that could work.'

He opened his eyes. Unlike before, his gaze was calm, and no longer was he nervous like a few moments prior.

"Now then…"

Fiddling his tongue around his teeth, his tongue settled over the furthest tooth on his bottom right side, and his expression cringed a little.

Cr… Crack!

low snapping sound, his tooth came undone and fell directly onto the ground. The process was rather quick, but it still

front of him, Ryan moved his body forward a little, and he picked the tooth with

would've thought I'd have to use this? It's good that I

within the tooth that enabled him

Tik! Tik!

twenty seconds, and within that time, the tooth had completely changed into a tiny black box. Tapping onto it with his tongue, Ryan was able to catch a glimpse of a myriad of

Ren's

made one for himself and the others. He never would've thought he'd need to use it,

dimensional space was taken and he was stripped of all his possessions, he wasn't necessarily as

Click!

"Easier than I thought."

disabling the bracelet that was on his ankle using one of the items in his dimensional space and making sure that it didn't trigger the

"That was nerve-wracking."

composed as he was, he

up in the air. Since he valued his life, during the process he found himself sweating more than he

out, and

the most, and he pressed his hands against the ground, helping himself

they designed

knowing the mechanism behind it was extremely important for his next course of action, and so he spared no second to study

one that connects to the mana disruptor, or

time was tight, Ryan spent the next couple of

he forced himself to understand

"Hmmm "

out a small artifact from his

may or may not have

since he had

what a waste of

core from his dimensional space, he placed it over the artifact and

gentle glow formed on the artifact

"This will do."

given that he had to use a core to supplement the use of

use of the artifact

'This way.'

now see better within the darkness, and that was when he noticed

carefully, Ryan peaked through the small gap above, and that was when he caught sight of

'They look rather strong.'

exactly tell, but they were certainly stronger than him. Not as strong as Leopold, though. He could at least say this

'That's good.'

then the situation would've been

small device over the top of it. The device's eight legs appeared to

Cl..Click!

the gadget

and this light began to

iron door shortly after, and once the legs

they

able to

gave it a light knock, it would

from the opening above, and he knocked at the door once. He didn't bother ducking down and just stared at them from

Tok!

"Hu?"

the two demons who

"What was that?"

"Hey, look."

whose eyes

this possible? Did the