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 he turned

going there. We might never know if there are any demons

where Emma and Leopold were and removed

the exit, so it's best if we're

Click! Click!

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 so that they wouldn't be

rather fast, and they soon turned to face the glimmering light

from

"Let's go."

that had brought them

and the closer they got to the opening, the

going to be fine... I've been through

own heart beat out of his chest at the moment, and soon, they all passed

"What the…"

moment they passed through the opening, everyone

cavernous space with a high ceiling that seemed to stretch up

of the room.

the three of them 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

entire thing was gruesome,

'Sh..shit..'

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

a step back, his mind racing with questions

Leopold were similarly shocked, their eyes wide with shock as they looked upon the scene. They had to

they arrived, Ryan and Emma realized that they had underestimated the demons that

demons that lurked in the shadows. Countless

"Shit."

under his breath as his body tensed up with a sudden

had been in vain. All the tools they had used to conceal themselves had failed, and now they were caught

"So be it."

her sword and jumping down into

"Emma!?"

out for her, but it

Swoosh!

and Ryan watched as she jumped down and began hacking at the runes beneath

BOOM—!

"Arkgh!"

"Argh.. catch her!"

the demons fell to her blade, but it wasn't long before

Spurt—!

screwed anyway, we might as well do as much

shouted from beneath as she continued to slash

strong enough. He

need to

his chest as he watched Emma struggle against the demons. She fought valiantly, but

easily overpowered and eventually crashed against the wall beneath

BANG—!

"Ugh!"

his nails out of nervousness and rummaged through his dimensional space

"I... I..."

"That's enough."

anything, he felt a hand press against his shoulder, and his entire body froze on the

demons below, who stopped

quite a problem for