The Author's POV

"Lead us toward the exit."

Ryan issued the command to the demons, his voice calm and collected despite the chaos that surrounded them.

It was an unusual situation, to say the least. The demons, previously doing everything in their power to resist him, were moving in unison as they followed his orders to the word. They were no different than puppets at the moment.

Bang—!

The muffled sound of explosions rang in the distance as screams echoed everywhere.

In the midst of the madness that had overtaken the underground system, it seemed that no one was paying them any attention.

This was good…

'Everything is moving smoothly.'

Their current situation was rather delicate, and just one single mistake would cost them their lives. Having exhausted all of his means, Ryan could only hope that everything flowed smoothly.

'Yeah… it's going to work… I should have already accounted for everything.'

As they moved forward, Ryan found himself growing increasingly confident in his plan.

He had expected the demons to be suspicious of their group, but it seemed that his strategy was working even better than he had hoped.

Emma's presence was proving to be an unexpected boon.

The demons seemed to be more focused on the chaos around them than on the group of humans that were following them.

It wasn't long before they found themselves moving through a labyrinth of tunnels.

Ryan couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the sheer scale of the underground system.

He had always known that it was vast, but seeing it firsthand was a different experience altogether.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

"Over here!"

"Move!"

As they moved through the tunnels, they saw demons rushing past them, heading toward the areas that they had previously been in. But the demons paid them little attention; their gaze was focused solely on the task at hand.

'It seems like the prisoners are making things difficult for them... good.'

The group continued on for what felt like hours.

Ryan had lost track of time, and he wasn't sure how much longer they could keep up the pace. But then, in the distance, he saw a faint glimmer of light.

His heart skipped a beat as he realized that they were nearing their destination.

As they approached the opening, the demons in front of them came to a sudden stop. Ryan hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. But then he understood. The area ahead was where he needed to go.

He turned to the demons and spoke softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"The exit is over there, isn't it?"

The demons didn't reply, but their nodding heads confirmed what he had suspected.

felt a surge of excitement as he realized that they had made it. When he turned

be careful when going there. We might never know if

where Emma and Leopold were

necessarily be the exit, so it's best if

Click! Click!

the bands, Leopold and Emma felt their mana return, and Ryan returned their weapons to them. At the same time, he handed them a couple of tools to conceal their presence

was rather fast, and they soon turned to face the glimmering light in the distance. There

they knew that they were far from being the strongest in their surroundings. They still had

"Let's go."

and crushing the cores of the two demons that had brought them here, the demons disappeared into dust,

and the closer they got to the opening, the

fine...

out of his chest at the moment, and soon, they all passed through

"What the…"

the opening, everyone was shocked by what

that seemed to stretch up into the darkness. The walls were rough and jagged, and the floor was littered with

up in the center of the room.

the rune were several members of the alliance, and the three of them could vividly see the mana in their bodies get sucked dry out of them, turning

gruesome,

'Sh..shit..'

chill run down his spine, as if he had stumbled upon something that

step back, his

they looked upon the scene. They had to cover their mouths in order not to make any sound, but

Ryan and Emma realized that they had underestimated the demons that lay beneath

instantly detected by the numerous demons that lurked in the shadows. Countless pairs of glowing eyes stared up at them, making their skin crawl

"Shit."

as his

seemed like their efforts had been in vain. All the tools they had

"So be it."

said grimly, drawing her sword and jumping down into the

"Emma!?"

called out for her, but it was already too

Swoosh!

and Ryan watched as she jumped down and began hacking at the runes beneath them, with each blow

BOOM—!

"Arkgh!"

"Argh.. catch her!"

few of the demons fell to her blade, but

Spurt—!

might as well do

she continued to slash

he needed to help her, but he also knew that he wasn't strong enough. He watched in horror as

need to do

Emma struggle against the demons. She fought valiantly, but it

eventually crashed against

BANG—!

"Ugh!"

out of nervousness and rummaged through his

"I... I..."

"That's enough."

press against his shoulder,

for the demons below, who stopped in their

caused quite