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!

a low snapping sound, his tooth came undone and fell directly onto the ground. The process was rather

of him, Ryan moved his

I'd have to use this?

his mana was sealed, he had installed a mechanism 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

Ren's nagging wasn't

for Ren, but he had also made one for himself and the others. He never would've thought he'd need to use it, but as luck would have it, he indeed found himself in a

was taken and he was stripped of all his possessions,

Click!

"Easier than I thought."

space and making sure that it didn't trigger the alarm, Ryan finally let out

"That was nerve-wracking."

composed as he was, he had been

everything would go up in the air. Since he valued his life, during

everything worked out,

what mattered the most, and he pressed his

they designed

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

what this circuit does? Is this the one that connects to the mana disruptor, or

tight, Ryan spent the next couple of hours just staring blankly

within his mind, and he forced himself to understand everything that was going on inside

"Hmmm "

body, he took out a small artifact from his dimensional space. It was the same shotgun like

may not have stolen it from

since he

what a waste of

his dimensional space, he placed it over

glow formed on

"This will do."

disparity in strength between him and Leopold, it was a given that he had to use a

use of the artifact if it weren't for

'This way.'

he could now see better within the darkness, and that was when he noticed a small opening that was sealed by an iron

small gap above, and that was when he caught sight of two demons standing

'They look rather strong.'

him. Not as strong as Leopold, though. He could at least say

'That's good.'

they been stronger than him, then the situation

top of it. The device's eight legs appeared to be

Cl..Click!

trying to make the least sound possible, the gadget activated, and the eight legs clamped harder on the metallic

its base, and this light began to revolve around the device in a

circle formed on the iron door shortly after, and

like they

quiet and unnoticeable, Ryan was able to create

he gave it a light knock, it would fall,

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

Tok!

"Hu?"

attention of the two demons who were standing guard. Both of

"What was that?"

"Hey, look."

whose

How is this possible? Did