The Author's POV

The internal structure of the underground cavern was massive. Ryan couldn't count the handful of times he had taken the wrong path and headed toward a dead end.

It was starting to get to him.

"Not this one either."

Staring at probably what seemed to be like the tenth dead end, Ryan sighed in frustration and glanced at his phone.

There was a single red dot displayed on the screen, and that was where Ryan was currently headed to.

That was where Leopold was being held, and while he knew the exact direction of where he was, finding him was starting to prove to be a more difficult task than he had anticipated.

In a maze, just knowing where someone was, wasn't enough.

'If only he was somewhere more open.'

The fact that he was inside a massive underground network made it hard for Ryan to find the correct path, but he wasn't completely hopeless.

When he reached a new one, his phone would trace his steps so that he could see exactly where he was going and the places he had been in the past. Although he did run into a lot of dead ends, this helped him stay on track and stopped him from going to the same places twice.

He was steadily making progress, but still...

"Ugh."

Ryan groaned out loud.

'This is so frustrating.'

Time was of the essence, and he was wasting a lot of time finding the right path.

When he looked at his body, the demonic energy that had been encircling him had practically disappeared, and he no longer felt like a demon.

If he were to meet a demon, he'd instantly be found out.

'How annoying.'

The situation was anything but pleasant.

Despite that, Ryan could only grit his teeth and take out another demon core. This one belonged to the second demon he killed.

Crack!

Crushing it in the palm of his hand, he repeated the process from before and once again trekked on.

'No point in complaining… If I don't hurry up, things might turn for the worst. I need to hurry up.'

*

'Bingo.'

Ryan didn't know for how long he had walked, but after a couple more dead ends, he finally found the correct route, and he was shortly exposed to a large opening that was filled with thousands of metallic doors.

He was still quite a distance away from it, but he was able to see everything properly with the aid of a certain device.

'Well… shit…'

the moment he noticed the

patrolling the area. They all emitted intimidating auras, and Ryan knew that

were to be caught by

shudder

It's fine… I can

his calculations. Scanning around, his eyes

time was ripe yet and remained where he was for the next couple of

he made a concerted effort to eavesdrop on the conversations that were taking place and to assimilate all of the information that he was learning from

to get a better idea of how

they were gathering prisoners, he knew that none of them were going to be kept there for long as he'd see demons routinely approaching the cell

was rather useless, but that didn't concern him as

to make

have some demonic energy covering me, so I should be

confirming that the demonic energy that surrounded his body was still stable,

He was ready.

Tap.

the area, he felt countless eyes

he continued to move toward where Leopold was being held. He ignored the gazes and continued

to

for

and Ryan's body froze on the spot. When he turned his head, he almost fell to his knees. Towering over him was a large demon with a bulky

and Ryan had a hard time

that he wasn't dealing with just any regular demon but someone that

"Y,yes?"

his composure almost

you

question. One which Ryan

another sector, and I need to

one of the terminologies that Ryan picked up while listening in on

wasn't sure of what they meant, he knew that the

"Which one?"

scrutinizing gaze of the demon, Ryan could only lower his head and point

where

nodded his

that's exactly where

"Hmm, okay then."

demon was quick to agree

to do, I won't disturb you any further. When you go there, you can just tell them the reason why you're visiting, and they'll let you in. I hope your findings are

"Thank you."

relieved that things went so smoothly. Things would've been troublesome if the demon

Thankfully, he didn't.

'Okay, this is good.'

over the door where Leopold resided, Ryan took

touched his

***

an eye on him;

The commander said expressionlessly.

turned his head, his gaze fixed on a 'demon' moving toward door

appeared, he knew that

of its rank wouldn't show up in such a location, the fact that the demonic energy that covered its body

the demon right then and there was because he wanted to see what he wanted to

Their goal.