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.

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

careful when going there. We might never know if there are any demons guarding,

Emma and Leopold were and removed their

not necessarily be the exit, so it's best

Click! Click!

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

though they were strong, they knew that they were far from being the strongest in their surroundings.

"Let's go."

demons that had brought them

was light, and the closer they got

going to be fine... I've been

chest at the

"What the…"

opening, everyone was shocked by what they

a large, cavernous space with a high ceiling that seemed to stretch up into

up in the center of the room. It was massive, stretching

could vividly see the mana in their bodies get sucked dry out of them, turning them into skinny husks that would soon fall down and be replaced by new members every

entire thing was gruesome, and

'Sh..shit..'

he had

a step back, his

They had to cover their mouths in order not to make any sound, but it

that they had underestimated the

in the shadows. Countless pairs of glowing eyes stared up at

"Shit."

cursed under his breath as his body

best to remain cautious, but it seemed like their efforts had been in vain. All the tools they had used to conceal themselves

"So be it."

drawing her sword and jumping

"Emma!?"

Ryan called out for her,

Swoosh!

dim light, and Ryan watched as she jumped down and

BOOM—!

"Arkgh!"

"Argh.. catch her!"

a few of the demons fell to her blade, but it wasn't long before she

Spurt—!

screwed anyway, we might as well do as much damage

beneath as she

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

need to

against the demons. She fought valiantly, but it

was easily overpowered and eventually crashed against the

BANG—!

"Ugh!"

nails out of nervousness and rummaged through his

"I... I..."

"That's enough."

before he could do anything, he felt a hand press against his shoulder, and his

for the demons below,

caused quite a problem