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.

When he turned his head,

might never know if there

where Emma and Leopold

lies ahead might not necessarily be the exit,

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

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

were far from

"Let's go."

his hand and crushing the cores of the two demons that had brought them here, the demons disappeared into dust, and Ryan followed Emma

closer they got to the opening, the more

be fine...

beat out of his chest

"What the…"

passed through the opening, everyone

emerged into a large, cavernous space with a high ceiling that seemed to stretch up into the darkness. The walls were rough and jagged, and the floor

that had been intricately set up in the center of the room. It was massive, stretching for several meters in every direction, and it glowed with an eerie, pulsating

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

thing was gruesome, and Ryan's face

'Sh..shit..'

he had stumbled upon something that he was

step back, his mind racing with

They had to cover their mouths in order not to make any

and Emma realized that they had

demons that lurked in the shadows. Countless pairs of glowing eyes stared up at them, making

"Shit."

breath as his

their best to remain cautious, but it seemed like their efforts had been in vain. All

"So be it."

drawing her sword and

"Emma!?"

Ryan called out for her, but it was

Swoosh!

jumped down and began hacking at the runes beneath them, with each

BOOM—!

"Arkgh!"

"Argh.. catch her!"

off-guard, a few of the demons fell to her blade,

Spurt—!

we might as well do as much damage as

as she continued to

knew that he wasn't strong enough. He watched in horror as several powerful demons approached her, realizing

need to

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

easily overpowered and eventually crashed against the

BANG—!

"Ugh!"

nails out of nervousness and rummaged through his dimensional

"I... I..."

"That's enough."

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

for the demons below, who

guys have caused quite a problem