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.

excitement as he realized that they had made it. When he turned his head, he saw that both Emma and Leopold were looking

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

where Emma and Leopold

not necessarily be the exit, so

Click! Click!

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

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

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

"Let's go."

the cores of the two demons that had brought them

and the closer they got to the

fine...

his own heart beat out of his chest at the moment,

"What the…"

opening, everyone was shocked by what they were

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

the most disturbing thing was the rune that had been intricately set up in the center of the room. It

mana in their bodies get sucked dry out of them, turning them

thing was gruesome,

'Sh..shit..'

he had stumbled upon something that he was not meant to

back, his mind racing with questions and

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

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

planning, they were instantly detected by the numerous demons that lurked in the shadows. Countless pairs of glowing eyes stared up at them,

"Shit."

breath as his body tensed up with a

it seemed like their efforts had been in vain. All the tools they had used to conceal

"So be it."

drawing her sword and jumping down into the

"Emma!?"

her,

Swoosh!

jumped down and began hacking at the runes beneath them,

BOOM—!

"Arkgh!"

"Argh.. catch her!"

her blade,

Spurt—!

anyway, we might as well do as much damage as

as she

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

need

he watched Emma struggle against the demons. She fought valiantly, but it was all for

was easily overpowered and eventually crashed against the wall

BANG—!

"Ugh!"

out of nervousness and rummaged through his

"I... I..."

"That's enough."

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

the demons below,

caused quite