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.

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

never know

moved to where Emma and Leopold were and removed their

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

Click! Click!

their mana return, and Ryan returned their weapons to them. At the same time, he handed them

face the glimmering light in the distance. There was an apparent nervousness in their gazes at

far from being the strongest in

"Let's go."

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

was light, and the closer they got to the opening, the more

be fine... I've been

chest at the moment, and

"What the…"

moment they passed through the opening, everyone was shocked by what

a large, cavernous space with a high ceiling that seemed to stretch up into the darkness. The walls

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

the alliance, and 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 by new members every

was gruesome, and Ryan's

'Sh..shit..'

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

step back, his mind racing with

their eyes wide with shock as they looked upon the scene. They had to cover their mouths in order not to make

Ryan and Emma realized that they had underestimated the

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

"Shit."

breath as his body tensed up with a sudden

their best to remain cautious, but it seemed like their efforts had been in vain. All the tools they had used to conceal themselves had failed, and now they were caught in the demons'

"So be it."

her sword and jumping

"Emma!?"

Ryan called out for her, but it was

Swoosh!

in the dim light, and Ryan watched as she jumped down and began hacking at the

BOOM—!

"Arkgh!"

"Argh.. catch her!"

blade, but it wasn't long before she

Spurt—!

as well do as much

from beneath as she

He watched in horror as several powerful demons approached her, realizing

I need

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

easily overpowered and eventually

BANG—!

"Ugh!"

started to bite his nails out of nervousness and rummaged through his dimensional space for anything

"I... I..."

"That's enough."

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

demons below, who stopped in their

quite